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Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Iran goes nuclear?
Ashkenazi in U.S.: IDF must prepare to strike Iran
Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondent
IDF Chief tells Dennis Ross that Israel is interested first in diplomacy, but cannot rule out other options.
************
As the United States called upon Israel to become their virtual protectorate during Operation Desert Storm, the European Union will offer Israel guarantees of peace and security. Europe, not the overextended and highly inflated United States, will take out Iran.
Europe to Take Out Iran For Jerusalem
Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondent
IDF Chief tells Dennis Ross that Israel is interested first in diplomacy, but cannot rule out other options.
************
As the United States called upon Israel to become their virtual protectorate during Operation Desert Storm, the European Union will offer Israel guarantees of peace and security. Europe, not the overextended and highly inflated United States, will take out Iran.
Europe to Take Out Iran For Jerusalem
Monday, March 16, 2009
DavidBenAriel.org
BEYOND BABYLON
Read Beyond Babylon for FREE on my Beyond Babylon blog!
Beyond Babylon warns: Beware Roman wolves in sheep's clothing! Europe's New Crusade has its evil eye on Mount Zion and is after the Temple Mount.
The Vatican plot against Jerusalem exposed!
Death to America? (David Ben-Ariel YouTube video)
Death to the American, British and Jewish peoples? Concentration camps for YOUR family and friends? Why would God permit Europe to defeat and deport us? Does He really hate the abominations of Christmas and Easter that much?
Europe Nukes US! (David Ben-Ariel YouTube video)
BEYOND BABYLON warns we're going down and out due to our idolatry and immorality.
Read Beyond Babylon for FREE
Joseph isn't Jewish!
A Nation of Drunks and Whores
Will God Curse Our Countries for Christmas?
The Plain Truth About Easter
Death to the American, British & Jewish peoples?
Born Again: The Kingdom of God!
Dead & Buried (David Ben-Ariel YouTube video)
If somebody tells you folks are up in Heaven, they don't know what they're talking about. The Bible reveals the biblical heroes are dead & buried, waiting for the return of Christ and their resurrection.
Emperor Obama
Why has Obama FAILED to prove he's a natural born citizen? Shame on conservative cowards who have FAILED to demand proof! This is further proof America is under a curse
Pearly Gates (David Ben-Ariel YouTube Video)
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth"
- Matthew 5:5
The New Jerusalem is coming down to EARTH - we don't go to Heaven!
Watch Pearly Gates
and read these articles and expect to be SURPRISED!
Born Again and Heaven and Hell
Kingdom of God-Beings to Rule Earth from Jerusalem!
Do You Prefer TRADITION Over Truth?
A Nation of Drunks and Whores
We’ve been living a lie and have loved to indulge in deception. “Don’t confuse me with the facts” has been our shameful attitude, and truth has been treated like some social outcast. Therefore, God threatens to use Europe to wake us up...
"A Household Word" (YouTube video by David Ben-Ariel
A Household Word
The general public doesn't have a clue about the Gospel or the Ezekiel Warning Message! That woeful ignorance indicts the Church of God, since God says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." And that same God warns about our responsibility to sound the alarm so British-Israelites and Jews, and repentant Gentiles, can seek shelter in Him and avert the imminent nuclear Holocaust.
A little known blogger
PCG: Carrying on "Business as Usual"
Beyond Babylon drops the bomb!
A German-led Europe will strike nuclear terror against US! National destruction, defeat and deportation are on the way! The American, British and Jewish peoples are marked for death!
Will Germany Launch a Nuclear Attack on America?
Drunks and Whores (David Ben-Ariel YouTube video)
Many professing Christians remain in denial that traditional Catholics and Protestants are spiritual drunks and whores (intoxicated by Catholic concoctions), drug addicts (under the heavy influence of Rome); traditional Christians and Catholics are spiritual practicing homosexuals, REPROBATES having a perverse spiritual preference for tradition over truth, for abominable baptized paganism, counterfeit Christian holidays they've accepted (following Constantine, not Jesus Christ), falling for accursed Rome's replacement theology that would replace the biblical Sabbath and holy days and dietary laws (we are commanded to keep) with their idolatrous traditions and unclean doctrines of demons...
Watch the Drunks and Whores video and read these articles:
Christian Reprobates?
Plea to Diehard Catholics & Protestants to Repent
"I don't hate all black people"
(YouTube video by David Ben-Ariel)
Read Beyond Babylon for FREE on my Beyond Babylon blog!
Beyond Babylon warns: Beware Roman wolves in sheep's clothing! Europe's New Crusade has its evil eye on Mount Zion and is after the Temple Mount.
The Vatican plot against Jerusalem exposed!
Death to America? (David Ben-Ariel YouTube video)
Death to the American, British and Jewish peoples? Concentration camps for YOUR family and friends? Why would God permit Europe to defeat and deport us? Does He really hate the abominations of Christmas and Easter that much?
Death to the American, British & Jewish peoples?
Will God Curse Our Countries for Christmas?
Europe Nukes US! (David Ben-Ariel YouTube video)
BEYOND BABYLON warns we're going down and out due to our idolatry and immorality.
Read Beyond Babylon for FREE
Joseph isn't Jewish!
A Nation of Drunks and Whores
Will God Curse Our Countries for Christmas?
The Plain Truth About Easter
Death to the American, British & Jewish peoples?
Born Again: The Kingdom of God!
Dead & Buried (David Ben-Ariel YouTube video)
If somebody tells you folks are up in Heaven, they don't know what they're talking about. The Bible reveals the biblical heroes are dead & buried, waiting for the return of Christ and their resurrection.
Emperor Obama
Why has Obama FAILED to prove he's a natural born citizen? Shame on conservative cowards who have FAILED to demand proof! This is further proof America is under a curse
Pearly Gates (David Ben-Ariel YouTube Video)
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth"
- Matthew 5:5
The New Jerusalem is coming down to EARTH - we don't go to Heaven!
Watch Pearly Gates
and read these articles and expect to be SURPRISED!
Born Again and Heaven and Hell
Kingdom of God-Beings to Rule Earth from Jerusalem!
Do You Prefer TRADITION Over Truth?
A Nation of Drunks and Whores
We’ve been living a lie and have loved to indulge in deception. “Don’t confuse me with the facts” has been our shameful attitude, and truth has been treated like some social outcast. Therefore, God threatens to use Europe to wake us up...
"A Household Word" (YouTube video by David Ben-Ariel
A Household Word
The general public doesn't have a clue about the Gospel or the Ezekiel Warning Message! That woeful ignorance indicts the Church of God, since God says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." And that same God warns about our responsibility to sound the alarm so British-Israelites and Jews, and repentant Gentiles, can seek shelter in Him and avert the imminent nuclear Holocaust.
A little known blogger
PCG: Carrying on "Business as Usual"
Beyond Babylon drops the bomb!
A German-led Europe will strike nuclear terror against US! National destruction, defeat and deportation are on the way! The American, British and Jewish peoples are marked for death!
Will Germany Launch a Nuclear Attack on America?
Drunks and Whores (David Ben-Ariel YouTube video)
Many professing Christians remain in denial that traditional Catholics and Protestants are spiritual drunks and whores (intoxicated by Catholic concoctions), drug addicts (under the heavy influence of Rome); traditional Christians and Catholics are spiritual practicing homosexuals, REPROBATES having a perverse spiritual preference for tradition over truth, for abominable baptized paganism, counterfeit Christian holidays they've accepted (following Constantine, not Jesus Christ), falling for accursed Rome's replacement theology that would replace the biblical Sabbath and holy days and dietary laws (we are commanded to keep) with their idolatrous traditions and unclean doctrines of demons...
Watch the Drunks and Whores video and read these articles:
Christian Reprobates?
Plea to Diehard Catholics & Protestants to Repent
"I don't hate all black people"
(YouTube video by David Ben-Ariel)
Friday, March 13, 2009
God’s Sacred Calendar (Part One)
God’s Sacred Calendar (Part One)
Did God inspire and preserve His sacred calendar through the Jews, or is the Hebrew calendar merely the work of carnal men?
By Stephen Flurry and Mark Nash
Confusion persists today over when the sacred year should begin. Can we rely on the accuracy of the Hebrew calendar? Is it God-inspired, or merely the work of carnal men?
The argument to reject the Hebrew calendar is not new! Herbert W. Armstrong faced the same argument over 65 years ago! At that time, there was a man claiming the Passover fell on a different day, other than the 14th of Nisan, according to the Hebrew calendar. Mr. Armstrong answered this man’s argument in a Good News letter in 1940: “Unless God has preserved His sacred calendar through the Jews, then we do not know how to figure Passover or any of the holy days this year. For there is no authority for any other way. There is no Bible authority whatsoever for figuring the first day of the first month from the new moon nearest the spring equinox.”
Carefully read that last sentence again, because there are those who argue along this line: Just find the new moon nearest the spring equinox and calculate from there. (The spring equinox is when the time of the day and the night are equal in length—March 20 or 21 on the Roman calendar.) It is true that God says keep His holy days in season (Numbers 9:2-3). In other words, His spring festivals should be kept in the spring and the autumn festivals in autumn. And that is exactly what the Hebrew calendar ensures—that these days will be kept in their proper season. But nowhere does God tell us to find the new moon closest to the spring equinox and begin counting for yourself. God did not leave that responsibility to us—He left that to the Jews!
Notice! Mr. Armstrong continued in his letter, “God did not commit His oracles or the preservation of His times, to profane history …. They have been preserved by the Jews. After thorough study of the Bible, of the Hebrew calendar, of history and every angle—after going into the matter with all the Eugene brethren and other brethren who have made a special study of this question, we have unanimously agreed that the Hebrew calendar has been preserved correct by the Jews.”
Let us consider further. How did Mr. Armstrong reach his conclusions? You will see that they are indeed biblically based.
Oracles Committed to Jews
Paul is very clear in Romans 3:1-2: “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews are entrusted with the oracles of God” (Revised Standard Version). The Greek word for oracles in verse 2 simply means the divine revelation or utterance of God.
The oracles do not refer to Old Testament Scripture only. Notice what was written about the Hebrew calendar in the April 1981 Good News: “But what were the oracles committed in a public way to the Jews? The Hebrew Bible only? By no means! The Hebrew calendar also! For without the calendar, it would be impossible to fulfill correctly what is written in the Hebrew Bible about hallowed annual times. And not only the Bible and calendar, but the week also. These three—Bible, calendar and week—are all part of the oracles committed to the Jews for all mankind” (emphasis ours throughout).
But how can we rely on the Jewish people? The martyr Stephen said in Acts 7:39 that his Jewish ancestors rejected the teachings of Moses. And we all know the Jews eventually rejected the Messiah. How can we rely on people who have rejected God? Paul answers this very question in verse 3 of Romans 3: “What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?” (rsv).
Good question! What if these people, to whom the oracles of God were committed, sinned and rebelled against God? Does that mean God would no longer preserve His oracles through them? “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar …” (verse 4). God continued to preserve His oracles through them. “He simply pruned off those who refused to preserve His revelation for men. That is one reason the 10 tribes of Israel were cut off and sent into exile” (ibid.).
Here is where the argument breaks down for those who say the Hebrew calendar is not of God. They will readily admit that the Jews, even though they have rejected God’s revelation, have preserved an accurate and precise reading of the Hebrew Bible; but they reject the preservation of the Hebrew calendar on the basis that it has been preserved by rebellious men! As Paul wrote, let God be true! Do you believe God? Did He preserve His inspired Word, the Hebrew Bible, even if through carnal men? Most would say, of course. Then did He preserve His calendar, organized according to 19-year time cycles, so that we might keep His holy days in their appointed seasons? God’s Word says yes!
Concerning the preservation of the Hebrew calendar, the Good News wrote, “By faith we know we have copies, providentially preserved, of the original Word of God. By faith we know that the leadership in the Jewish courts did preserve the rules of the calendar God committed to them—even though they themselves have not wanted to follow those rules at all times. It is all a question of government—whether God is capable of ruling. Whether God can intervene in the affairs of His people to correct their errors—no men are perfect. And that is a matter of faith” (ibid.).
Let us now take a closer look at God’s sacred calendar as it has been preserved by the Jews.
God’s System of Time
God did not leave the seasons, days and years to chance or to the devices of men. On the fourth day of creation, He established a system, visible to man, for the purpose of regulating our calendar. He aligned the sun and moon in conjunction with the universe to function as a great time clock. God also created a system of annual and weekly sabbaths that demonstrate His great plan for mankind. By understanding His calendar and the meaning of the annual sabbath days, we can have a better understanding of our Creator’s plan for man.
Genesis 1:14 tells us God created signs for days, seasons and years. We know that a 24-hour day begins and ends at sunset. We must be able to mark the day and the week to understand how they are signs of creation and prophecy. To keep the Sabbath day holy, as required by the Fourth Commandment, we must know when the day begins and ends. In fact, just to count the seven days of a week and locate the Sabbath day, we need the sign of the day.
As the sun marks the day, it also marks the year. God’s plan for 6,000 years of human rule on this Earth and 1,000 years of Christ’s rulership (Revelation 20:4), known as the Millennium, requires us to be able to count years. One year is one orbit of the Earth around the sun. One solar year is 365 days and 6 hours. The Roman calendar, used by Western civilization today, is based only on this solar cycle, adding an extra day every fourth year to account for the extra six hours added yearly.
According to God’s calendar, however, months are determined by the moon—called lunar months. There are 29 days, 12 hours and 44 minutes in one lunar month. That is how long it takes for the moon to orbit the Earth. Twelve of these lunar months add up to 354.36 days—10.89 days short of one solar year (365 days, 6 hours). Following the lunar cycle only (as the Muslims do) would move the calendar forward more than 32 days every three years. April 1 would be where February 28 was three years earlier.
If the year had 13 months, there would be 383.86 days in a year, or 18.64 days more than a solar year. In this case, in just two years, the calendar would move back more than 37 days. April 1 would occur where June 6 was two years earlier.
With a 12-month year, Passover would be in the spring one year, the next year it would be in late winter, then move to early winter, and so on around the calendar. With 13 months per year, the movement would be in the other direction—and faster.
It is the Hebrew calendar which combines the lunar months and solar years to be completely synchronized—enabling God’s people to observe His holy days (as determined by the moon) in their proper seasons (as determined by the sun). In this way, God’s calendar is luni-solar, which is consistent with Genesis 1:14. God appointed both the sun and moon “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.”
God has instructed us to observe His holy days on specific days of the month, while at the same time, during appointed seasons in the year (Leviticus 23:4). The Hebrew calendar accomplishes this through a 19-year time cycle made up of 12 common years (with 12 months) and 7 leap years (with 13 months). The 19-year cycle is significant because that is how the lunar months and the solar years relate. For every 19 solar years, the moon revolves around the Earth 235 times. “This remarkable astronomical relationship,” according to John Kossey, author of The Hebrew Calendar: A Mathematical Introduction, “makes it possible to combine common years and leap years together within a fundamental pattern that repeats itself every 19 years.”
The Calendar Preserved
The fact that God has a sacred calendar which keeps track of time should be undisputed. Again, Genesis 1:14 says the sun and moon are for seasons, days and years.
The Jewish historian Josephus has an interesting account concerning the descendants of Adam’s son Seth. He wrote, “Now this Seth … became a virtuous man; and as he was himself of an excellent character, so did he leave children behind him who imitated his virtues. … They also were the inventors of that peculiar sort of wisdom which is concerned with the heavenly bodies, and their order. And that their inventions might not be lost before they were sufficiently known … they made two pillars; the one of brick, the other of stone: They inscribed their discoveries on them both” (Antiquities of the Jews, I, II, 3).
It appears as though God’s revelation concerning the heavenly bodies, including the times and seasons, began with the earliest generations.
But can we find evidence of an actual calendar in Scripture? Actually, we find plenty! Most are not aware of these facts.
In Exodus 20:9-10, God plainly refers to a seven-day week. In fact, you can find a much earlier account of the seven-day week in Genesis 1 and 2.
But what about the division of months? What about the Hebrew calendar? Does God refer to it in Scripture? Yes He does! Most of the time, the writers of the Old Testament seemed content to just speak of the number of the months (first, second, etc.). But when the actual name of the month is referred to, God inspired them to refer to the months on the Hebrew calendar—not the Egyptian, or any other calendar for that matter.
In Exodus 12:2, God begins giving instructions concerning the Passover by saying, “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.” Notice the significance of this verse. God gave them a calendar! He told the Israelites which month was to be the first month. In Exodus 13:4, this month is called Abib, meaning an ear of corn. As the name of the first month reveals, the months were to be organized according to the annual harvest seasons. Anciently, in Palestine, barley ripened first. At that time, the green ears of the winter wheat began to show. All of God’s annual holy days are patterned after the two annual harvests in Palestine—spring and fall. That is why God appointed these days to be kept in season (Leviticus 23:4).
Baker’s Bible Dictionary refers to Abib as the first month “of the Jewish ecclesiastical year.” And so, early on in the Bible, we find evidence of the Hebrew calendar. Abib is mentioned five more times in the Old Testament.
In 1 Kings 6:1, there is a reference to the second month, Zif. Likewise, you can find names for the seventh and eighth months in Scripture (Ethanim in 1 Kings 8:2; Bul in 1 Kings 6:38).
When the Jews went into Babylonian captivity, they adopted different names for their months. Yet, is that where the Hebrew calendar ends in history? Does it disappear from Scripture? Not at all! God’s calendar was preserved. Notice Esther 3:7: “In the first month, that is, the month Nisan ….” The name Abib was changed to Nisan after the Jews went into captivity. Same calendar, same month, different name. In verse 13, you will see that the 12th month is referred to as Adar.
If you compare these names with any modern Jewish calendar, you will see that they are the same! 1 Chronicles 27:1-15 even refers to a 12-month year. Yet we know there had to be a 13th month added from time to time in order to keep God’s holy days in season. The 12th month, as we saw from Esther 3:13, is called Adar. Find a modern Hebrew calendar and you will see that, during a leap year, the 13th month is called Adar II.
Numerous other months named during the Babylonian captivity are mentioned in Scripture. In Esther 8:9, you will find the name for the third month on the Hebrew calendar, Sivan. Elul, the sixth month, is found in Nehemiah 6:15. The ninth month, Chisleu, is also mentioned (Nehemiah 1:1; Zechariah 7:1), along with the 10th month, Tebeth (Esther 2:16), and the 11th month, Sebat (Zechariah 1:7). These Hebrew calendar names are used repeatedly throughout the Bible.
So we find plenty of evidence of an actual calendar in the Bible. And in 1 Chronicles 12:32, we find evidence of the fact that God revealed it and preserved it through men: “And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.”
According to the Targum (a sixth-century B.C. paraphrase of the Old Testament), “the sons of Issachar … had understanding to know the times, and were skilled in fixing the beginnings of years, the commencement of months, and the intercalation of months and years … that they might show Israel what to do; and their teachers were two hundred chiefs of the Sanhedrin.”
The fact that God preserved His calendar through men, just as He did Old Testament Scripture, should not surprise us. For as the Good News wrote, “[W]ithout the calendar, it would be impossible to fulfill correctly what is written in the Hebrew Bible about hallowed annual times.”
The Jews may have gone into captivity, but the calendar was preserved. Bible history proves it. And Paul confirmed it in Romans 3:1-2.
(To be continued.) •
God's Sacred Calendar (Part Two)
************
It is true God has preserved His sacred calendar and holy days, and the correct dates to observe them, through THE JEWS. Yet the PCG and others continue in the proud and stubborn, idolatrous traditions of men and reject the correct Jewish dates for Passover and Pentecost, condemning themselves. Would to God folks would repent and let the truth set them free!
Passover and Pentecost Differences Settled!
The correct dates to observe God's holy days should not be a Church of God issue, having been settled by God thousands of years ago and preserved throughout the ages by faithful Jews.
The Oracles of God
God's empowered the Jews - despite themselves - to preserve His Word. They are the only people on Earth that God has blessed and ordained to fulfill such a calling! God will not retract His Word or renege on this gift and responsibility that He's graciously bestowed upon Judah.
The Pharisees
Who isn't aware of the sins of the Pharisees? Especially the Accuser of the Brethren? But does that mean the truths they teach, even if they don't live them, are no longer true?
The Passover Memorial
When did God decree that Jesus could declare "it is finished" and die on the stake? Why at the very same time that THE JEWS were sacrificing their Passover lambs at the Temple! The Jews had always killed the Passover lambs during the final hours of the 14th. It was towards the end of the 14th, not at the beginning of the 14th, that the Passover lambs were killed.
Raymond McNair Rejects God's government
Did Herbert Armstrong Ever Observe Pentecost on Sivan 6?
Fuzzy Thinking Christians
Jew hatred in the Church of God
Did God inspire and preserve His sacred calendar through the Jews, or is the Hebrew calendar merely the work of carnal men?
By Stephen Flurry and Mark Nash
Confusion persists today over when the sacred year should begin. Can we rely on the accuracy of the Hebrew calendar? Is it God-inspired, or merely the work of carnal men?
The argument to reject the Hebrew calendar is not new! Herbert W. Armstrong faced the same argument over 65 years ago! At that time, there was a man claiming the Passover fell on a different day, other than the 14th of Nisan, according to the Hebrew calendar. Mr. Armstrong answered this man’s argument in a Good News letter in 1940: “Unless God has preserved His sacred calendar through the Jews, then we do not know how to figure Passover or any of the holy days this year. For there is no authority for any other way. There is no Bible authority whatsoever for figuring the first day of the first month from the new moon nearest the spring equinox.”
Carefully read that last sentence again, because there are those who argue along this line: Just find the new moon nearest the spring equinox and calculate from there. (The spring equinox is when the time of the day and the night are equal in length—March 20 or 21 on the Roman calendar.) It is true that God says keep His holy days in season (Numbers 9:2-3). In other words, His spring festivals should be kept in the spring and the autumn festivals in autumn. And that is exactly what the Hebrew calendar ensures—that these days will be kept in their proper season. But nowhere does God tell us to find the new moon closest to the spring equinox and begin counting for yourself. God did not leave that responsibility to us—He left that to the Jews!
Notice! Mr. Armstrong continued in his letter, “God did not commit His oracles or the preservation of His times, to profane history …. They have been preserved by the Jews. After thorough study of the Bible, of the Hebrew calendar, of history and every angle—after going into the matter with all the Eugene brethren and other brethren who have made a special study of this question, we have unanimously agreed that the Hebrew calendar has been preserved correct by the Jews.”
Let us consider further. How did Mr. Armstrong reach his conclusions? You will see that they are indeed biblically based.
Oracles Committed to Jews
Paul is very clear in Romans 3:1-2: “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews are entrusted with the oracles of God” (Revised Standard Version). The Greek word for oracles in verse 2 simply means the divine revelation or utterance of God.
The oracles do not refer to Old Testament Scripture only. Notice what was written about the Hebrew calendar in the April 1981 Good News: “But what were the oracles committed in a public way to the Jews? The Hebrew Bible only? By no means! The Hebrew calendar also! For without the calendar, it would be impossible to fulfill correctly what is written in the Hebrew Bible about hallowed annual times. And not only the Bible and calendar, but the week also. These three—Bible, calendar and week—are all part of the oracles committed to the Jews for all mankind” (emphasis ours throughout).
But how can we rely on the Jewish people? The martyr Stephen said in Acts 7:39 that his Jewish ancestors rejected the teachings of Moses. And we all know the Jews eventually rejected the Messiah. How can we rely on people who have rejected God? Paul answers this very question in verse 3 of Romans 3: “What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?” (rsv).
Good question! What if these people, to whom the oracles of God were committed, sinned and rebelled against God? Does that mean God would no longer preserve His oracles through them? “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar …” (verse 4). God continued to preserve His oracles through them. “He simply pruned off those who refused to preserve His revelation for men. That is one reason the 10 tribes of Israel were cut off and sent into exile” (ibid.).
Here is where the argument breaks down for those who say the Hebrew calendar is not of God. They will readily admit that the Jews, even though they have rejected God’s revelation, have preserved an accurate and precise reading of the Hebrew Bible; but they reject the preservation of the Hebrew calendar on the basis that it has been preserved by rebellious men! As Paul wrote, let God be true! Do you believe God? Did He preserve His inspired Word, the Hebrew Bible, even if through carnal men? Most would say, of course. Then did He preserve His calendar, organized according to 19-year time cycles, so that we might keep His holy days in their appointed seasons? God’s Word says yes!
Concerning the preservation of the Hebrew calendar, the Good News wrote, “By faith we know we have copies, providentially preserved, of the original Word of God. By faith we know that the leadership in the Jewish courts did preserve the rules of the calendar God committed to them—even though they themselves have not wanted to follow those rules at all times. It is all a question of government—whether God is capable of ruling. Whether God can intervene in the affairs of His people to correct their errors—no men are perfect. And that is a matter of faith” (ibid.).
Let us now take a closer look at God’s sacred calendar as it has been preserved by the Jews.
God’s System of Time
God did not leave the seasons, days and years to chance or to the devices of men. On the fourth day of creation, He established a system, visible to man, for the purpose of regulating our calendar. He aligned the sun and moon in conjunction with the universe to function as a great time clock. God also created a system of annual and weekly sabbaths that demonstrate His great plan for mankind. By understanding His calendar and the meaning of the annual sabbath days, we can have a better understanding of our Creator’s plan for man.
Genesis 1:14 tells us God created signs for days, seasons and years. We know that a 24-hour day begins and ends at sunset. We must be able to mark the day and the week to understand how they are signs of creation and prophecy. To keep the Sabbath day holy, as required by the Fourth Commandment, we must know when the day begins and ends. In fact, just to count the seven days of a week and locate the Sabbath day, we need the sign of the day.
As the sun marks the day, it also marks the year. God’s plan for 6,000 years of human rule on this Earth and 1,000 years of Christ’s rulership (Revelation 20:4), known as the Millennium, requires us to be able to count years. One year is one orbit of the Earth around the sun. One solar year is 365 days and 6 hours. The Roman calendar, used by Western civilization today, is based only on this solar cycle, adding an extra day every fourth year to account for the extra six hours added yearly.
According to God’s calendar, however, months are determined by the moon—called lunar months. There are 29 days, 12 hours and 44 minutes in one lunar month. That is how long it takes for the moon to orbit the Earth. Twelve of these lunar months add up to 354.36 days—10.89 days short of one solar year (365 days, 6 hours). Following the lunar cycle only (as the Muslims do) would move the calendar forward more than 32 days every three years. April 1 would be where February 28 was three years earlier.
If the year had 13 months, there would be 383.86 days in a year, or 18.64 days more than a solar year. In this case, in just two years, the calendar would move back more than 37 days. April 1 would occur where June 6 was two years earlier.
With a 12-month year, Passover would be in the spring one year, the next year it would be in late winter, then move to early winter, and so on around the calendar. With 13 months per year, the movement would be in the other direction—and faster.
It is the Hebrew calendar which combines the lunar months and solar years to be completely synchronized—enabling God’s people to observe His holy days (as determined by the moon) in their proper seasons (as determined by the sun). In this way, God’s calendar is luni-solar, which is consistent with Genesis 1:14. God appointed both the sun and moon “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.”
God has instructed us to observe His holy days on specific days of the month, while at the same time, during appointed seasons in the year (Leviticus 23:4). The Hebrew calendar accomplishes this through a 19-year time cycle made up of 12 common years (with 12 months) and 7 leap years (with 13 months). The 19-year cycle is significant because that is how the lunar months and the solar years relate. For every 19 solar years, the moon revolves around the Earth 235 times. “This remarkable astronomical relationship,” according to John Kossey, author of The Hebrew Calendar: A Mathematical Introduction, “makes it possible to combine common years and leap years together within a fundamental pattern that repeats itself every 19 years.”
The Calendar Preserved
The fact that God has a sacred calendar which keeps track of time should be undisputed. Again, Genesis 1:14 says the sun and moon are for seasons, days and years.
The Jewish historian Josephus has an interesting account concerning the descendants of Adam’s son Seth. He wrote, “Now this Seth … became a virtuous man; and as he was himself of an excellent character, so did he leave children behind him who imitated his virtues. … They also were the inventors of that peculiar sort of wisdom which is concerned with the heavenly bodies, and their order. And that their inventions might not be lost before they were sufficiently known … they made two pillars; the one of brick, the other of stone: They inscribed their discoveries on them both” (Antiquities of the Jews, I, II, 3).
It appears as though God’s revelation concerning the heavenly bodies, including the times and seasons, began with the earliest generations.
But can we find evidence of an actual calendar in Scripture? Actually, we find plenty! Most are not aware of these facts.
In Exodus 20:9-10, God plainly refers to a seven-day week. In fact, you can find a much earlier account of the seven-day week in Genesis 1 and 2.
But what about the division of months? What about the Hebrew calendar? Does God refer to it in Scripture? Yes He does! Most of the time, the writers of the Old Testament seemed content to just speak of the number of the months (first, second, etc.). But when the actual name of the month is referred to, God inspired them to refer to the months on the Hebrew calendar—not the Egyptian, or any other calendar for that matter.
In Exodus 12:2, God begins giving instructions concerning the Passover by saying, “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.” Notice the significance of this verse. God gave them a calendar! He told the Israelites which month was to be the first month. In Exodus 13:4, this month is called Abib, meaning an ear of corn. As the name of the first month reveals, the months were to be organized according to the annual harvest seasons. Anciently, in Palestine, barley ripened first. At that time, the green ears of the winter wheat began to show. All of God’s annual holy days are patterned after the two annual harvests in Palestine—spring and fall. That is why God appointed these days to be kept in season (Leviticus 23:4).
Baker’s Bible Dictionary refers to Abib as the first month “of the Jewish ecclesiastical year.” And so, early on in the Bible, we find evidence of the Hebrew calendar. Abib is mentioned five more times in the Old Testament.
In 1 Kings 6:1, there is a reference to the second month, Zif. Likewise, you can find names for the seventh and eighth months in Scripture (Ethanim in 1 Kings 8:2; Bul in 1 Kings 6:38).
When the Jews went into Babylonian captivity, they adopted different names for their months. Yet, is that where the Hebrew calendar ends in history? Does it disappear from Scripture? Not at all! God’s calendar was preserved. Notice Esther 3:7: “In the first month, that is, the month Nisan ….” The name Abib was changed to Nisan after the Jews went into captivity. Same calendar, same month, different name. In verse 13, you will see that the 12th month is referred to as Adar.
If you compare these names with any modern Jewish calendar, you will see that they are the same! 1 Chronicles 27:1-15 even refers to a 12-month year. Yet we know there had to be a 13th month added from time to time in order to keep God’s holy days in season. The 12th month, as we saw from Esther 3:13, is called Adar. Find a modern Hebrew calendar and you will see that, during a leap year, the 13th month is called Adar II.
Numerous other months named during the Babylonian captivity are mentioned in Scripture. In Esther 8:9, you will find the name for the third month on the Hebrew calendar, Sivan. Elul, the sixth month, is found in Nehemiah 6:15. The ninth month, Chisleu, is also mentioned (Nehemiah 1:1; Zechariah 7:1), along with the 10th month, Tebeth (Esther 2:16), and the 11th month, Sebat (Zechariah 1:7). These Hebrew calendar names are used repeatedly throughout the Bible.
So we find plenty of evidence of an actual calendar in the Bible. And in 1 Chronicles 12:32, we find evidence of the fact that God revealed it and preserved it through men: “And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.”
According to the Targum (a sixth-century B.C. paraphrase of the Old Testament), “the sons of Issachar … had understanding to know the times, and were skilled in fixing the beginnings of years, the commencement of months, and the intercalation of months and years … that they might show Israel what to do; and their teachers were two hundred chiefs of the Sanhedrin.”
The fact that God preserved His calendar through men, just as He did Old Testament Scripture, should not surprise us. For as the Good News wrote, “[W]ithout the calendar, it would be impossible to fulfill correctly what is written in the Hebrew Bible about hallowed annual times.”
The Jews may have gone into captivity, but the calendar was preserved. Bible history proves it. And Paul confirmed it in Romans 3:1-2.
(To be continued.) •
God's Sacred Calendar (Part Two)
************
It is true God has preserved His sacred calendar and holy days, and the correct dates to observe them, through THE JEWS. Yet the PCG and others continue in the proud and stubborn, idolatrous traditions of men and reject the correct Jewish dates for Passover and Pentecost, condemning themselves. Would to God folks would repent and let the truth set them free!
Passover and Pentecost Differences Settled!
The correct dates to observe God's holy days should not be a Church of God issue, having been settled by God thousands of years ago and preserved throughout the ages by faithful Jews.
The Oracles of God
God's empowered the Jews - despite themselves - to preserve His Word. They are the only people on Earth that God has blessed and ordained to fulfill such a calling! God will not retract His Word or renege on this gift and responsibility that He's graciously bestowed upon Judah.
The Pharisees
Who isn't aware of the sins of the Pharisees? Especially the Accuser of the Brethren? But does that mean the truths they teach, even if they don't live them, are no longer true?
The Passover Memorial
When did God decree that Jesus could declare "it is finished" and die on the stake? Why at the very same time that THE JEWS were sacrificing their Passover lambs at the Temple! The Jews had always killed the Passover lambs during the final hours of the 14th. It was towards the end of the 14th, not at the beginning of the 14th, that the Passover lambs were killed.
Raymond McNair Rejects God's government
Did Herbert Armstrong Ever Observe Pentecost on Sivan 6?
Fuzzy Thinking Christians
Jew hatred in the Church of God
Gifts for the Mullahs
Gifts for the Mullahs
by Joel Hilliker
March 11, 2009 From theTrumpet.com
Iran should send America a giant thank you card.
The United States is beyond broke. It is borrowing and printing hundreds of billions of dollars in a mad scramble to escape economic quicksand.
Why, then, is it offering $300 million to reconstruct the Gaza Strip? And another $600 million to help the Palestinian Authority pay its bills? That’s $900 million of other people’s money—for a cause that is profoundly flawed.
Besides putting America deeper in debt, what will the money achieve? It won’t promote peace. In fact, history shows a sickening correlation: More aid to Palestinians results in more Palestinian terrorism.
At the donors’ conference where the U.S. pledged this gaudy sum, Hillary Clinton said Hamas won’t touch a cent of it. That is impossible. How can you drop $300 million into Gaza—that’s $2.2 million on each of its scant 139 square miles—without benefiting the entity that governs it? Even the $600 million: Past aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA)—including weapons—ended up in Hamas’s hands when the Iranian-sponsored terrorist group mutinied and seized Gaza. A repeat in the West Bank is realistic.
If we could follow those $900 million as they make their way from America’s printing presses into Palestinian pockets, we would likely find them, in a best-case scenario, padding PA bank accounts. At worst, those dollars will reach terrorists and fund Israeli deaths. That will provoke retaliation from the new Israeli government, which will mean Palestinian deaths. And Hamas perversely views Palestinian deaths not as tragedies, but as victories in the propaganda war against Israel.
That is ultimately what those 900 million borrowed greenbacks will likely purchase.
Iran’s mullahs really should send Washington a giant thank you card.
As U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk said, if Hamas only lays hands on 10 percent of that $900 million, America will become its second-biggest benefactor after Iran.
This is one of a series of gifts America has given the Islamic Republic.
Tehran is the strongest power in the region. It owns the Gaza Strip through Hamas. It controls Lebanon via Hezbollah. It is gaining a sturdy ally in its former archenemy Iraq. Even the threat it faces from Afghanistan isn’t nearly as great as in 2001. In all of these arenas, the United States has either stood aside or directly helped Iran’s cause.
And now in the White House is a president who has repeatedly voiced his desire to turn Iran into a diplomatic partner, if not an ally. The new administration has spoken seriously of opening a diplomatic office in Tehran. It hopes to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons by offering economic incentives. On top of that, the new president’s budget shrinks military spending to Sept. 11, 2001, levels.
At a nato summit last week, Secretary of State Clinton proposed an international conference on Afghanistan’s future. She then announced that the U.S. wants Iran, as an important neighbor of Afghanistan, to attend. This is major official recognition of Iran’s power in the region.
Yes, America is seeking Iran’s help in battling the Taliban. What makes that fact so astonishing is this: A prime reason Tehran’s participation would be so valuable is the fact that it has been arming the Taliban. Its Revolutionary Guard has provided both the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan with sophisticated explosives to use against U.S. troops. Iran knows all about the movements of al Qaeda through Iranian territory and into Afghanistan. It had deliberately turned up the heat in the Afghan theater in order to distract America from events in Iraq and from its own nuclear pursuits.
Rather than view these acts as proof that Iran is a dangerous enemy, however, the Obama administration views Iran as a potential partner. It wants to draw on Tehran to supply intelligence for use against the Taliban and al Qaeda. It also hopes to use Iranian territory as a supply route for American and nato troops.
Madness. Soliciting Iran’s help in containing the Taliban shows a profound confusion over the nature of the enemy. Iran has become many times more dangerous to U.S. interests than both the Taliban and al Qaeda combined. And a huge reason is simply that it has benefited so greatly from just this sort of insane policy.
The U.S. is acting on the fantasy that Iran, offered just the right combination of flattering words and economic rewards, will transform itself from a terrorist-sponsoring, nuclear-war-hungry hive of extremism into a peace-loving partner in defending Western values.
In reality, to ask for Iran’s help in securing Afghanistan is not unlike paying extortion money to a bully so he’ll stop beating you up.
Guess who is deeply alarmed at this development? If you said Israel, you’re right. But also watching America’s overtures toward Iran with justifiable anxiety are the Arab states in the region that fear Tehran’s growing power. These are the same Arab states that, remarkably, were rooting for Israel in its war against Hamas earlier this year, simply because they fear Iran more than they hate Israel.
Saudi Arabia and other Arab states are pleading with President Obama not to make any concessions to Iran without consulting them. Before the Afghanistan summit on March 31, they plan to convene an Arab League summit where, Stratfor wrote, “Saudi Arabia will take the lead in trying to demonstrate a united Arab front against an emergent Iran” (March 5; emphasis mine).
What are they so worried about? At the top of the list: Iran’s nuclear program.
The United Nations now admits that Iran has more enriched uranium than previously thought—enough, upon further enrichment, for a nuclear bomb. Israel’s top military intelligence officer said this past weekend that Iran can already produce atomic weapons. Iran has “crossed the technological threshold,” Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin said, and has the expertise and materials needed for an atomic bomb. He also warned that Tehran wants to exploit President Obama’s desire for negotiations as a cover for its nuclear weapons program.
Meanwhile, Iranian media says Tehran has test-fired a new air-to-surface missile with a range of 70 miles. And last month, Iran successfully launched a satellite into space. Experts say this proved Iran can now project an object at least 150 miles above Earth—including an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear payload.
This is the country America wants to partner with to lock down Afghanistan. The new president is beginning to shove aside America’s existing relationships with Israel, Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies to pursue a potential relationship with Iran.
Biblical prophecy foretells of a “king of the south” dominating the Middle East in our day. We have shown for over 15 years that Iran is fulfilling that prophetic role, as our free booklet The King of the South proves.
But it is still absolutely appalling what a central role the United States, of all countries, has played in bringing that prophecy to fruition.
What does Iran think of the potential relationship? So far it has responded by accusing the U.S. of making the Afghanistan mess worse and demanding that it just leave. Iran’s top military commander yesterday said President Obama is just as “warmongering” as President Bush was.
For all America has given Iran, one would expect a little more gratitude. •
by Joel Hilliker
March 11, 2009 From theTrumpet.com
Iran should send America a giant thank you card.
The United States is beyond broke. It is borrowing and printing hundreds of billions of dollars in a mad scramble to escape economic quicksand.
Why, then, is it offering $300 million to reconstruct the Gaza Strip? And another $600 million to help the Palestinian Authority pay its bills? That’s $900 million of other people’s money—for a cause that is profoundly flawed.
Besides putting America deeper in debt, what will the money achieve? It won’t promote peace. In fact, history shows a sickening correlation: More aid to Palestinians results in more Palestinian terrorism.
At the donors’ conference where the U.S. pledged this gaudy sum, Hillary Clinton said Hamas won’t touch a cent of it. That is impossible. How can you drop $300 million into Gaza—that’s $2.2 million on each of its scant 139 square miles—without benefiting the entity that governs it? Even the $600 million: Past aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA)—including weapons—ended up in Hamas’s hands when the Iranian-sponsored terrorist group mutinied and seized Gaza. A repeat in the West Bank is realistic.
If we could follow those $900 million as they make their way from America’s printing presses into Palestinian pockets, we would likely find them, in a best-case scenario, padding PA bank accounts. At worst, those dollars will reach terrorists and fund Israeli deaths. That will provoke retaliation from the new Israeli government, which will mean Palestinian deaths. And Hamas perversely views Palestinian deaths not as tragedies, but as victories in the propaganda war against Israel.
That is ultimately what those 900 million borrowed greenbacks will likely purchase.
Iran’s mullahs really should send Washington a giant thank you card.
As U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk said, if Hamas only lays hands on 10 percent of that $900 million, America will become its second-biggest benefactor after Iran.
This is one of a series of gifts America has given the Islamic Republic.
Tehran is the strongest power in the region. It owns the Gaza Strip through Hamas. It controls Lebanon via Hezbollah. It is gaining a sturdy ally in its former archenemy Iraq. Even the threat it faces from Afghanistan isn’t nearly as great as in 2001. In all of these arenas, the United States has either stood aside or directly helped Iran’s cause.
And now in the White House is a president who has repeatedly voiced his desire to turn Iran into a diplomatic partner, if not an ally. The new administration has spoken seriously of opening a diplomatic office in Tehran. It hopes to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons by offering economic incentives. On top of that, the new president’s budget shrinks military spending to Sept. 11, 2001, levels.
At a nato summit last week, Secretary of State Clinton proposed an international conference on Afghanistan’s future. She then announced that the U.S. wants Iran, as an important neighbor of Afghanistan, to attend. This is major official recognition of Iran’s power in the region.
Yes, America is seeking Iran’s help in battling the Taliban. What makes that fact so astonishing is this: A prime reason Tehran’s participation would be so valuable is the fact that it has been arming the Taliban. Its Revolutionary Guard has provided both the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan with sophisticated explosives to use against U.S. troops. Iran knows all about the movements of al Qaeda through Iranian territory and into Afghanistan. It had deliberately turned up the heat in the Afghan theater in order to distract America from events in Iraq and from its own nuclear pursuits.
Rather than view these acts as proof that Iran is a dangerous enemy, however, the Obama administration views Iran as a potential partner. It wants to draw on Tehran to supply intelligence for use against the Taliban and al Qaeda. It also hopes to use Iranian territory as a supply route for American and nato troops.
Madness. Soliciting Iran’s help in containing the Taliban shows a profound confusion over the nature of the enemy. Iran has become many times more dangerous to U.S. interests than both the Taliban and al Qaeda combined. And a huge reason is simply that it has benefited so greatly from just this sort of insane policy.
The U.S. is acting on the fantasy that Iran, offered just the right combination of flattering words and economic rewards, will transform itself from a terrorist-sponsoring, nuclear-war-hungry hive of extremism into a peace-loving partner in defending Western values.
In reality, to ask for Iran’s help in securing Afghanistan is not unlike paying extortion money to a bully so he’ll stop beating you up.
Guess who is deeply alarmed at this development? If you said Israel, you’re right. But also watching America’s overtures toward Iran with justifiable anxiety are the Arab states in the region that fear Tehran’s growing power. These are the same Arab states that, remarkably, were rooting for Israel in its war against Hamas earlier this year, simply because they fear Iran more than they hate Israel.
Saudi Arabia and other Arab states are pleading with President Obama not to make any concessions to Iran without consulting them. Before the Afghanistan summit on March 31, they plan to convene an Arab League summit where, Stratfor wrote, “Saudi Arabia will take the lead in trying to demonstrate a united Arab front against an emergent Iran” (March 5; emphasis mine).
What are they so worried about? At the top of the list: Iran’s nuclear program.
The United Nations now admits that Iran has more enriched uranium than previously thought—enough, upon further enrichment, for a nuclear bomb. Israel’s top military intelligence officer said this past weekend that Iran can already produce atomic weapons. Iran has “crossed the technological threshold,” Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin said, and has the expertise and materials needed for an atomic bomb. He also warned that Tehran wants to exploit President Obama’s desire for negotiations as a cover for its nuclear weapons program.
Meanwhile, Iranian media says Tehran has test-fired a new air-to-surface missile with a range of 70 miles. And last month, Iran successfully launched a satellite into space. Experts say this proved Iran can now project an object at least 150 miles above Earth—including an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear payload.
This is the country America wants to partner with to lock down Afghanistan. The new president is beginning to shove aside America’s existing relationships with Israel, Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies to pursue a potential relationship with Iran.
Biblical prophecy foretells of a “king of the south” dominating the Middle East in our day. We have shown for over 15 years that Iran is fulfilling that prophetic role, as our free booklet The King of the South proves.
But it is still absolutely appalling what a central role the United States, of all countries, has played in bringing that prophecy to fruition.
What does Iran think of the potential relationship? So far it has responded by accusing the U.S. of making the Afghanistan mess worse and demanding that it just leave. Iran’s top military commander yesterday said President Obama is just as “warmongering” as President Bush was.
For all America has given Iran, one would expect a little more gratitude. •
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