The

Biblical
Calendar
By Don Esposito

(c) Word of Truth Publications 2013

Gen 1:14 And Elohim said, Let light sources be in

the expanse of the heavens, to divide between the
day and the night. And let them be for signs and for
(Holy day) seasons, and for days and years
The Biblical calendar is Yahwehs clock in the sky to
show His covenant people when to keep the proper
Holy Days for worship toward Him.
Discover in this book the amazing way that this
calendar works.

THIS BOOK IS NOT TO BE

SOLD!
It is written and produced in the public interest to awaken
and make Christianity aware of the lies and the distortion of
facts in history and doctrine of the body of believers of
Yahshua the Messiah. If you would like to help produce
more books for distribution, send your contribution to:
Don Esposito
PO BOX 832
Carteret, NJ 07008 USA
Permission is granted to copy and distribute this book in part or in whole
on condition that context or meaning is not altered or changed.

Copyright Word of Truth Publications 2014

Printed in the United States by:
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Table of Contents:

1) The Biblical Calendar, How It Works

2) How Does the Year Begin

3) How Does the Month Begin

4) When is the Conjunction

5) When Was the Crucifixion

6) What Year Was the Crucifixion

7) What Day is the Passover

8) How to Count to Shavuot / The Omer Sacrifice

9) The Lunar Sabbath Illusion

10) When Does the Day Begin

11) Conclusion

Chapter 1: The Biblical Calendar How It

Works
If someone would do a history of the world study they
would find out that for millenniums civilizations have been
keeping a vast variety of different methods to calculate
time and to formulate calendars.
And although there have been hundreds of varying
methods for determining time, in most calendars through
the ages there have been certain constants such as a 7
day week and also most civilizations determining the
separation of the year by the vernal equinox.
What has turned out to be a most intriguing situation
though is the recent calendar methods that have cropped
up in calculating the biblical Holy Days in Leviticus the
23rd chapter. And as there has been a rise in Internet
sites over the last 20 years so has the rise been in biblical
calendars and calculations.
I believe that many of these new theories that are arising
on the subject may be founded on sincerity of heart, but
also misguided on fact and premise.
Living in Israel over the last 13 years and studying the
biblical calendars from renowned experts here in Israel
for over 15 years, I can conclusively state that it is
virtually impossible to come up with the accurate Biblical
Calendar without being in the land of Israel and
understanding both the agricultural cycle, and the ancient
process of worship.
Number one, when we even start to look at the biblical
command of keeping the Holy Days of Yahweh, the very

first premise is that Israel would be here in the Land of

Israel.
Lev 23:10 Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say
to them, When you come in to the land which I am
giving to you, and have reaped its harvest, and have
brought in the Omer, of the beginning of your harvest, to
the priest,
Lev 23:11 then he shall wave the Omer before YAHWEH
for your acceptance; on the morrow of the Sabbath the
priest shall wave it.
You will never find even one scripture in the entirety of
the Bible that would even remotely make one think that
the intention of the Holy Days was ever meant for any
other place on earth, but Israel. That is clear. Jerusalem
is the center of the earth (Ezek 38:12), and the only
place on earth that Scripture states where Yahweh dwells.
When one looks at Psalm 137 you can see that in biblical
times there was no other thought at feast time but to be
in Jerusalem.
Psa 137:1 There by the rivers of Babylon we sat down;
also we wept when we remembered Zion.
Psa 137:2 We hung our lyres on the willows in its midst.
Psa 137:3 For there our captors asked us the words of a
song; yea, our plunderers asked joy, saying, Sing to
us a song of Zion.
Psa 137:4 How shall we sing the song of YAHWEH
on a foreign soil?
Psa 137:5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right
hand forget;
Psa 137:6 let my tongue cleave to my palate, if I do not
remember you, if I do not bring up Jerusalem above the
head of my joy.
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It is hard for a western mindset 21st century believer to

understand the sanctity and sovereignty that Jerusalem
had over pilgrims during biblical times. In this world
where many groups keep the feast of Yahweh on cruise
ships and water parks most just cant imagine how the
land of Israel and being in Jerusalem during ancient times
was synonymous with actually keeping the feast itself.
Deu 16:16 Three times in a year shall all your
males appear before YAHWEH your Elohim in the
place which He shall choose (Jerusalem): In the
Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks
and in the Feast of Tabernacles. And they shall not
appear before YAHWEH empty,
Jerusalem, the city of the Great King (Math 5:35) is and
always will be everything that has to do with the feasts of
Yahweh and their meaning to His covenant children. It is
almost impossible to truly understand the Biblical
Calendar without ever being in Israel for even one feast
and without understanding that the calendar and its
calculation did not just have to do with setting time, but
also it had to do with the agriculture of Israel and with
setting worship.
The ancient circular worship pattern when looking at the
calendar and Holy Days cannot be ignored if one wants to
calculate the Biblical Calendar correctly. Yahweh works in
the circular and not the linear and if one wants to
understand the pattern He devised from Scripture, then
he must lose his Babylonian mindset and start to also
think in the circular and not linear.
This pattern shows not only that Yahweh does not change
(Mal 3:6), but it also shows His eternal existence in the
circular mode, never ending, just simply coming back to
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the beginning of the same pattern that He exists in. Since

Yahweh does not change if you can find the pattern, then
simply follow it on each course of the calendar during the
year.
Lets look at an example of Yahwehs circular pattern of
worship.
When Israel came into the Promised Land under the
leadership of Joshua one of the first things they did was
to defeat and conquer Jericho. Now lets look at what
Yahweh had them do before they marched on and
conquered the city.
Jos 6:2 And YAHWEH said to Joshua, See I have given
Jericho and its king, mighty warriors, into your hand.
Jos 6:3 And you shall go around the city, all the men of
battle, going around the city once; so you shall do six
days.
Jos 6:4 And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of
rams' horns before the ark. And on the seventh day you
shall go around the city seven times, and the priests
shall blow with the rams' horns.
Jos 6:11 And the ark of YAHWEH went around the city,
going around one time. And they came into the camp,
and remained in the camp.
Jos 6:14 And they circled the city on the second day
one time, and returned to the camp. So they did six days.
Jos 6:15 And it happened on the seventh day, they rose
early, at the dawning of the day, and went around the
city seven times in the same way. Only on that day they
circled the city seven times.
Jos 6:16 And it happened at the seventh time the
priests blew with the rams' horns. And Joshua said to the
people, Shout! For YAHWEH has given you the city.
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Why would Yahweh have them circle the city for seven
days? Because He was teaching them His pattern of
worship. In the last few years, archaeologists here in
Israel have just discovered the true biblical Gilgal. It was
quite a discovery. The complex was symmetrically shaped
like a sandal showing the scripture that Yahweh stated
every place that their foot treads will be theirs.
What was also amazing was that the heel of the foot was
an exact circular pattern where the priests used to walk
around at feast time because of the following scripture.
Exo 23:14 Three times in the year you shall make a
feast to Me.
The word for feast here is not chag but chagag. Look at
the Strongs Concordance definition of chagag.
cha^gag
A primitive root (compare H2283, H2328); properly to
move in a circle, that is, (specifically) to march in a
sacred procession, to observe a festival
This was showing the circular pattern to worship in and
must not be ignored if one wants to understand the
Biblical Calendar, as the things on the earth are simply
patterns of the things in the heavens (Heb 8:5). It is also
interesting to note that the word Gilgal means wheel.
Yahweh created the luminary bodies on day four of
creation week.
Gen 1:14 And Elohim said, Let light sources be in the
expanse of the heavens, to divide between the day and
the night. And let them be for signs and for (Holy
day) seasons, and for days and years.
8

As you can see from the above scripture these luminaries

will be the circular pattern of time for days, and months,
and Holy Day seasons and years. The only measurement
of time that would not be controlled by the sun and moon
and stars would be the 7 day weekly cycle that was set
down at creation with six days of creation and the 7th day
being the Sabbath.
This circular pattern of the weekly and yearly cycle has
been constant for almost 6,000 years now and is quite
consistent in Scripture as well as even most societies
throughout the world. This is because most societies also
used the heavenly bodies for calculating time and used
the sun and moon along with the five major planets of
Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Mercury; together this
formed the number 7 in which the constant 7 days week
developed in most societies through antiquity.
Since the Bible also clearly delineates the 7 day weekly
cycle throughout, it would automatically rule out the false
notion of the lunar Sabbath, which states that the
Sabbath rotates monthly according to the New Moon and
one month it can be on a Tuesday and the next month on
a Thursday. But this would contradict the rock solid
biblical premise of a seven day weekly cycle throughout.
The luminaries (sun, moon and stars) make a circular
pattern of movement, and create what we know as days,
and months and years. The sun controls the day, the
moon the month, and the sun and stars control the year.
There are 12 constellations on the ecliptic circle called the
Mazzaroth in Scripture, which represent the 12 tribes of
Israel and the sun moves into a different constellation
every 30 days and then, at the division of the year, at the
vernal equinox, it moves back into the first constellation
again.
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The Bible also said in Genesis 1:14 these movements

would be for signs. This Hebrew word owth also
means prophetic signs. Interesting enough because of the
wobble of the earth on its axis roughly every 2160 years
the sun would be in a different constellation at the New
Year. This is called the procession of the equinoxes.
This yearly procession each and every year from creation
has told the plan of Yahweh in the heavenly bodies.
This has told the plan of Yahweh in the heavens from
creation. At creation the vernal equinox and year started
at the constellation of the Ox. In Hebrew the ox was the
original word picture of the first letter in the Hebrew
alphabet called aleph and denotes headship and
strength as an ox denotes strength.
We also know in Scripture Yahshua is called the Aleph
and the Tav; the aleph being the first letter in the
alphabet and the tav being the last letter in the alphabet.
The Mazzaroth turned about the time of the making of the
covenant with Abraham and at that time the year was
now starting when the sun was in the constellation of the
ram.
We know the ram was Yahwehs provision to Abraham
instead of his son Isaac to be sacrificed and was symbolic
of Elohim providing His only Son Yahshua as the
substitute for each of our sins, if we believe in Him and
repent.
Then, when Yahshua was born the Mazzaroth turned
again and the year started when the sun was in the
constellation of the fish; the fish being a sign of Yahshua
coming and making us fishers of men.

10

Also in Gen 48:16 when Jacob blessed Ephraim and

Manasseh he also gave them this blessing.
Gen 48:16 The Messenger that redeemed me from
every evil, may He bless the youths; and may my name
be called on them, and the name of my fathers, Abraham
and Isaac, and may they like fishes grow into a
multitude in the midst of the earth.
It is also interesting to note that the symbol of the tribe
of both Ephraim and Manasseh is the ox. And now in
these last days it is most interesting that the Mazzaroth is
getting ready to change again in this coming decade to
the sign of the man bearing the water being poured out.
This is clearly showing the Messianic age is ready to
emerge and Yahshua, the great King, who has the only
true living water, will be pouring it out all over the earth
during His millennial reign.
Joh 7:37 Now on the great day, which is the last of the
feast (The eighth day), Yahshua was standing and He
cried out and said, If a man thirsts, let him come to Me
and drink.
Joh 7:38 Anyone who believes in me as the scriptures
have said, rivers of living water will flow from his
belly.
Rev 22:1 And he showed me a pure river of water of
life, bright as crystal, coming forth out of the throne of
YAHWEH and of the Lamb.
Even the pagan astrologers call this constellation
Aquarius which means water carrier or cup carrier. The
Heavenly Father knew the end from the beginning and
has given this circular pattern to both time and worship

11

for His true elect to be able to understand the times that

we are living in and Yahwehs great plan of salvation.
I want to make a very important point here as when you
look at the signs of the constellations that I have just
mentioned, as with the sun and moon and stars
designating the calendar throughout the year, these are
all heavenly bodies not tampered with or manipulated by
man.
How could man make the Mazzaroth turn every 2150
years so that the constellations that tell the plan of
salvation would be shifted into another constellation? It is
impossible and a clear sign that Yahweh is supreme and
only HE SETS UP THE CALENDAR IN THE HEAVENS!
It is quite ridiculous and nave to think that the biblical
calendar would be dependent on man planting barley or
having to visibly sight a crescent moon. The Biblical
Calendar is only dependent on Yahwehs circular pattern
that He has set up at creation and that He uses for the
nation of Israel and to predetermine the Holy Days.
Deu 11:11 But the land which you are entering to
possess it is a land of hills and valleys, drinking water
from the rain of the heavens;
Deu 11:12 a land which YAHWEH your Elohim cares for;
the eyes of YAHWEH your Elohim are always on it from
the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
Israel is the only land in the world that Yahweh cares for
and watches from the beginning of the year to the end of
the year or from equinox to equinox as we will
conclusively see that the equinox in Scripture is the
dividing point of the yearly cycle.

12

The last point that I want to make in this introduction

before getting into each and every timing aspect of the
Biblical Calendar is that as where the heavenly bodies
(sun, moon, and stars) sets the circular pattern of the
calendar itself, the Biblical Calendar is also confirmed by
the earthly sign of the agriculture in Israel.
Due to the Diaspora most have never even visited the
land of Israel, never mind living here and watching the
agricultural cycle, so most people totally miss the earthly
confirmation of the heavenly bodies and will keep the
Holy Days many times completely outside of the
agricultural growing season, in which each is needed
according to which particular feast is being kept.
In each Holy Day season there is an earthly sign that
confirms the calendar marked by the sun, moon and
stars. During Passover there will be ripe barley for the
omer waving ceremony and the beginning of the grain
harvest. That harvest will continue for about two months
till the time of Shavuot.
Next you have the summer fruits that are harvested in
early to mid-September in anticipation of the Sukkot
festival. Sukkot according to Scripture must take place
after the autumn equinox and then the pilgrim would
bring up all his harvest fruits to Jerusalem to both tithe
and sacrifice to Yahweh for the bountifulness of the
harvest and also to enjoy the fruit of his labor and enjoy
the festival with his family and friends.
Living here in Israel has been such a blessing to see
Yahwehs hand in His creation all year long. And although
it is feast time that you see the fruition of the harvest,
you can see Yahwehs creation all year long from seeing
the first ripe fig to seeing the flower bud for the first
13

pomegranate. A believer can see the Biblical Calendar at

work with the agricultural growing cycle of the set apart
special Promised Land of Israel.
I pray as you study the beautiful Biblical Calendar that
Yahweh created for His covenant people that you will
have a much greater appreciation for the importance of
the land of Israel with both the issue of the calendar and
actually even the covenant itself.
Almost all covenant blessings one way or another are tied
into the physical Promised Land of Israel. Only by coming
here at feast time and seeing how the calendar works
with the agricultural and the worship process of Yahweh
can one fully appreciate the original intent of everything
that Yahweh put into the Biblical Calendar at creation. I
invite you to spend a feast here in the Promised Land
with us. It will change your life forever.
Now, on to the Biblical Calendar!

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Chapter 2- How Does the Biblical Year Begin?

The Romans start the year in January, in the dead of the
winter, whereas the Orthodox Jews start the year in
September - October according to the man-made rules of
the Rabbis. But when does the Bible say is the beginning
of the year?
Exo 12:2 This month (Aviv) shall be the chief of
months for you. It shall be the first of the months of
the year for you.
Very clearly the year begins in the spring when the
Passover is celebrated. The first month of the Biblical
Calendar is called Aviv. Now we know from Deut 16:9 that
we must start our Shavuot count when the sickle hits
the standing grain; or in other words when the barley is
ripe. Notice it never states that barley is the parameter for
the 1st day and beginning of the year, ONLY that it is the
agricultural parameter for the beginning of the count to
Shavuot. This point alone proves barley is not the
parameter to start the year, but simply an earthly
agricultural witness that the year has already begun. The
Biblical Calendar is celestial as well as agricultural as
where the Jewish calendar does not take any of these
things into account.
There is another important part of Scripture that the
current modern Jewish calendar does not also consider to
the actual start of the year; this is the biblical precedent of
waiting until after both the vernal equinox and the
precession of the equinox, when the sun both passes the
equator to start spring, and also passes from the 12th
constellation back to the first one, to finish its full yearly
cycle.

15

Scripture clearly tells us that we are to equate time by the

celestial bodies in the sky.
Gen 1:14 And Elohim said, Let luminaries be in the
expanse of the heavens, to divide between the day
and the night. And let them be for signs and for
seasons, and for days and years.
Psa 104:19 He made the moon for seasons
(mo'edim); the sun knows its going down.
So we see that the calendar is a solar/lunar calendar made
up of the sun to rule the day; when it is sunset we start
our new day, the moon to rule the month; when it finishes
its full rotation and restarts itself at conjunction the new
month begins, and a combination of the sun and stars to
rule the year.
Exo 34:22 And you shall observe a Feast of Weeks
for yourself, the first fruits of the harvest of wheat;
also the Feast of Ingathering (after) the turn of the
year (Tekufah).

16

The word for turning of the year in Hebrew is Tekufah.

This word actually means a revolution of the sun. This
happens twice a year. Once when the sun passes the
equator from the southern hemisphere to the northern
hemisphere in spring, and again when it passes back on
the other side of the earth from the Northern hemisphere
back to the south on about September 21-23, each year.
Clearly you cannot start Monday in the middle of Sunday,
and you cant start January in the middle of December
and likewise you cant start your new year in the middle
of winter of the previous year, before the vernal equinox
comes and the changing from winter to summer. Also
note in the original Hebrew, the word at is not in the
original Hebrew but is added and actually the word after
is more properly inferred from the original language. Lets
prove this point from the following scripture.
Lev 23:10 Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say
to them, When you come in to the land which I am giving
to you, and have reaped its harvest, and have brought
in the Omer, of the beginning of your harvest, to the
priest,
The above scripture is speaking about the Feast of
Firstfruits and the omer count to Shavuot. Very plainly
from this scripture we see that this happens AFTER THEY
HAVE REAPED THEIR HARVEST! So this shows
conclusively a later time period rather than an earlier one
as most years the harvest would not be completely ready
before the equinox and that is why in Exodus 34:22 the
word after is better rendered than at as the equinox is
the dividing line between winter and summer, but one
must wait until the New Moon arrives to actually start the
first month of the year, Aviv, (Ex 12:2) and officially start
the New Year.
17

Also look at:

Deu 16:13 You shall perform the Feast of Tabernacles
seven days after you have gathered in from your
grain-floor, and from your winepress.
Again we see that Sukkot is AFTER the harvest is not only
ripe, but harvested. This takes anywhere from 2 to 3
weeks before one could go up to Sukkot and clearly
delineates again a later feast AFTER the equinox and
NOT before. As long as the year is properly started after
the vernal equinox in the spring, then you will always have
your fall harvest and Sukkot also align after the autumn
equinox. Lets also look at the following scripture to see
the importance of waiting to start the biblical year till after
the tekufah or the full rotation of the sun at the equinox.
Exo 23:14 Three times in the year you shall make a
feast to Me.
Exo 23:15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened
Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I
have commanded you, at the set time of the month of
Aviv. For in it you came out from Egypt, and they shall
not appear before Me empty.
Exo 23:16 Also the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of
your labor, of what you sow in the field. Also the Feast of
Ingathering, after the going out of the year, at your
gathering your work from the field.
In verse 16 we see the feast of Sukkot being called the
Feast of Ingathering. It is called this due to the fact of
taking in or ingathering the harvest fruits for Sukkot. We
also see that this feast happens after the going out of the
year (the agricultural year) or after the autumn
equinox. If you start your year in the winter before the
vernal equinox you will also throw off the sequence of the
18

rest of the Holy Days and will be keeping the Feast of

Ingathering (Sukkot) in early September before the
turning of the year (autumn equinox) and before the
harvest has been gathered.
In years past when the Jewish calendar started incorrectly
one month early I have shown pictures that the harvest
was plainly not ready as summer was still present. It
would have been inconceivable in biblical times that a
pilgrim would come up to Jerusalem for Sukkot empty
handed as all his harvest was rotting away on the ground
after he was gone. Remember, for most of Israel with
travel time they were gone from their homes for around a
month at feast time. The harvest must be in first and then
the pilgrim takes the harvest to Jerusalem to celebrate and
worship with Yahweh the Provider of the Harvest.
Clearly, Passover must be kept in its season (spring, not
winter) from year to year, and then, Sukkot (Feast of
Ingathering) will also be in its season after harvest.
Exo 13:10 Thou shall therefore keep this ordinance
(Passover) in his season from year to year.
Also, look at this word Tekufah used in another scripture to
clearly show it is relating to the equinoxes.
2Ch 24:23 And it happened, at the turn of the year,
that the army of Syria came up against him;
Here, it is referring to spring and the turning of the year at
the vernal equinox. So the Bible conclusively shows the
wording used turning of the year in several places in
Scripture is related to the agricultural season starting at
the vernal equinox in March and ending at the autumn
equinox in September. The modern Jewish calendar does
not take into account the turning of the seasons from after
19

the vernal equinox occurs, but in some years, such as

2013, the year starts in winter before the vernal equinox
to keep it in line with the Easter season and the old Julian
calendar.
Their mistake is quite simple. Yahweh states, as we
already have shown that Aviv is the beginning of months
to you (Ex 12:2). But according to the modern Jewish
calendar they start the year in the 7th month and count
back the days to Aviv and Passover. Then as long as
Passover (and not the 1st day of the month of Aviv) falls
after the vernal equinox, they will still start the year even
though the first 2 weeks may still be in winter and still part
of the old year. Again, their mistake is following the
tradition of the Rabbis in starting the year in Tishri, the 7th
month and not starting it in Aviv, the first month.
Why is it, according to the rabbinical Jewish calendar that
Passover cannot come before the vernal equinox? It is
because the Rabbis say you cannot have two Passovers in
the same year.
Should the Tekufah of Tammuz extend till after the
Succoth Festival, or the Tekufah of Tebeth till the sixteenth
of Nisan, the year would be intercalated, so that the
festivals might fall in their due seasons, viz.,
Passover in Spring, Succoth in Autumn.(Sanh 11b)
So there you have it, according to the Jewish calendar,
they are saying that the vernal equinox IS indeed the
beginning of spring and the New Year; that is why they will
NEVER have Passover before the equinox. But as already
quoted, Aviv 1 and not Passover on Aviv 14 should be
the start of the year, according to Scripture. Nowhere in
Scripture does it ever state that only Passover has to start
in the New Year and the other 13 days of the new month
20

of Aviv can still be in the Old year, back in winter. This is

totally illogical.
The calendar they are using today is NOT the one used in
the time of the 1st century when Yahshua the Messiah
walked the earth, as even the Encyclopaedia Judaica
openly admits that the modern Jewish calendar started in
the fourth century by a Rabbi named Hillel the 2nd and was
not completely codified until the earliest the 10th century
AD.
It is generally accepted that certain elements of the
calculated Jewish calendar, commonly in use today, were
codified in approximately 358 C. E. by the (president of the
Jewish Sanhedrin), Hillel II. (Encyclopaedia Judaica)
Let me add some historical proof to dogmatically show that
the calendar that the Jews used in the first century AD was
one that started in spring and not fall and the year did
NOT ever start before the vernal equinox or the precession
of the equinox. There are 12 constellations in the sky and
the sun goes through each one approximately every 30
days. After it has gone through the 12th and starts back in
the first one, then the New Year can start.
The Jewish historian Josephus referred to this in Antiquity
of the Jews when he stated
the year had now begun as the sun was now in the
constellation of Aries.
Also, the noted historian Eusebius had much to say
confirming that ancient Israel ALWAYS waited until after
the vernal equinox to start the year in spring and NOT
winter.

21

Extracts from the Canons of Anatolius on the Paschal

Festival
But as the Romans would say, before the eleventh of the
calends of April. (15) But the sun is found on the said
twenty-sixth of the month Phamenoth, not only as entering
the first segment (of the zodiac), but on the fourth day is
already found passing through it. But this segment they
generally call the first dodecatomorium, and the equinox,
and the beginning of the month, and the head of the
cycle, and the head of the planetary course. But that
segment, and the last dodecatemorium, and the end of the
planetary revolution. Hence, also, those that place the
first month in it, and that fix the fourteenth of the
month by it, commit, as we think, no little and no
common blunder. (16) But neither is this our opinion
only, but it was also known to the Jews anciently, and
before Messiah, and was chiefly observed by them, as we
may learn from Philo, Josephus, and Musaeus, (17)
These, when they resolve inquiries on Exodus, say that all
ought to sacrifice the Passover alike after the vernal
equinox, in the middle of the first month. But this is
found to be when the sun passes through the first segment
of the solar, or, as some call it, the zodiac circle. But this
Aristobulus also adds, it was requisite that not only the sun
should have passed the equinoctial segment for the feast
of the Passover, but the moon also. But that the first
month of the Hebrews must occur after the equinox
may be gathered also from the book of Enoch.
We see also in the 19th Psalm that there is more to
determine the proper observation of time than just the
new moon.
Psa 19:1-6 The heavens declare the glory of Elohim; and
the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters
22

speech, and night unto night shows knowledge. There is no

speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their
words to the end of the world. In them hath He set a
tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming
out of His chamber, and rejoices as a strong man to run a
race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and
His circuit (Tekufah) unto the ends of it: and there is
nothing hid from the heat thereof.
The question of exactly what the connection is between the
times and the seasons may well be understood in the term
for line, which connotes connection, and certainly would
include more than a simple sunrise/sunset repetition,
particularly in the light that is their line, the line of the
heavens and firmament, not just the line of the sun. The
line mentioned in Hebrew thought is always circular and
not linear.
While the daily rotation of the earth provided the smaller
connecting circuit, the returning of the sun each year to
the same point at the vernal equinox was the greater
connecting circuit. From the earliest times there was an
understanding of the geometry of the earth, and that the
sun in its transit across the equatorial line created the
equinoxes. This astronomical event precludes any artificial
man-made rules. Let us look at another scripture that
shows this same concept.
Deut 11:11 But the land which you are entering to
possess it is a land of hills and valleys, drinking water from
the rain of the heavens; 12 a land which Yahweh your
Elohim cares for; the eyes of Yahweh your Elohim are
constantly on it from the beginning of the year to the
end of the year.

23

When you read this scripture in Hebrew, it is once again

showing a circular pattern, not a linear one. Yahwehs eyes
are always on the land of Israel in a never-ending circular
pattern, which is physically manifested by the tekufah or
circuit of the sun, portrayed yearly with the start of the
New Year at the vernal equinox.
That the learned men of old understood that Abib 1st
always fell AFTER the vernal equinox is crystal clear. The
debate of when Passover and the Feast of Unleavened
Bread were properly kept hinged on this single event.
"Peter, the Bishop of Alexandria, mentions that the Jews
had kept the Passover properly up to the destruction of
Jerusalem in 70 C.E. But after the destruction of the city
they err in reckoning the beginning of the month,
which is first amongst the months of the year, on the
fourteenth day of which, being accurately observed,
AFTER the equinox, the ancients celebrated the Passover
according to the Divine Command: whereas the men of
the present day now celebrate it BEFORE the
equinox, and that altogether through negligence and
error, being ignorant how they celebrate it in their
season" Anti-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VI, p. 280.
It is recognized that the calendar followed during the time
of Yahshua Messiah was regulated by the priestly lineage,
the Sadducees, who never started the New Year until
AFTER THE VERNAL EQUINOX for reckoning the month
of Aviv. As a matter of fact it is stated in Jack Finegans
Handbook of Biblical Chronology that when Solomon built
the Temple of Yahweh at Jerusalem that it was made
specifically so that the sun would shine directly through
the Eastern Gate on both the vernal and autumn
equinoxes.

24

Also, during the time of the Elephantine letters of the Jews

in Diaspora in Egypt, never once did they start the year
before either the precession of the equinoxes or the vernal
equinox. This is important as these letters are starting
from the 5th century BC around 495BC. This was less than
100 years after the fall of Solomons Temple and it is
extremely telling that these people only one generation
removed from Solomons Temple NEVER once started the
year before the vernal equinox.
Look at the following quoted excerpt from: Kenneth F.
Doig, New Testament Chronology, (Lewiston, NY: Edwin
Mellen Press, 1990).
Many of these legal documents include the required
Egyptian civil year date. Double-dated documents including
the Hebrew dates of the Elephantine Jews cover the period
471 to 402 BCE. This included evening to evening days
and a New Year beginning in Nisan (Aviv) only after
the Vernal Equinox. Almost all of the datable documents
can be referred back to a Nisan (Aviv) beginning only
after the Vernal Equinox each year.
When the Jews went into Diaspora after the Bar Kokhba
Revolt in 135 AD they systematically changed the method
of calculation and at some point even started to keep the
Passover itself in winter.
They blessed on the 23rd of Nissan and thus the whole
nation announced that tekufat Nissan begins on the 23rd of
Nissan! Therefore, Pesach of that year they celebrated
in the winter tekufa, disobeying the positive, explicit
biblical commandment to keep the spring month. They
also disobeyed the explicit words of Chazal, who said in
Rosh Hashanah 21a, Rav Huna bar Avin sent to
Rabba: If you see that the tekufa of Tevet extends to
25

the sixteenth of Nissan, intercalate this year and do

not hesitate, as is written: Keep the month of
spring.
Once Hillel the second centralized the calendar in 359 AD,
the ancient method of always calculating the first day of
the New Year Aviv after the vernal equinox was no longer
used and exchanged for a calculated calendar based on the
new moon closest to the equinox.
Barley was never a measure for calculating Aviv 1, as it
would be clearly evident in Diaspora that one could not
ever start the New Year or observe Passover, as it would
be impossible in Diaspora to know when barley is ripe in
Israel, and the growing season for barley is different all
over the world. People who mistakenly use Ex 9:31 to
equate barley to the beginning of the year, fail to
recognize that at the time of this scripture Israel was still
in Egypt where the barley growing season runs from
planting in August to harvest in early February, which is
totally contrary to Israels growing season of planting in
late October/November to harvest in late March early April.
This fact clearly shows that barley is not the parameter for
equating Aviv 1, as it would have been impossible to
properly date Aviv 1 and the Passover date from Diaspora.
Also, if ripe barley in Israel is the only method to calculate
the year how were years calculated before 1447 BCE when
Israel entered the Promised Land? Clearly Noah calculated
months (Gen 7:11) and was not using barley to know
when the year began and couldnt have seen barley while
inside the ark.
Gen 8:13 And it happened in the six hundred and first
year, at the beginning, on the first of the month, the
waters were dried up from off the earth. And Noah
26

removed the covering of the ark and looked. And, behold!

The face of the earth was dried.
Gen 8:14 And in the second month, on the twenty
seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
Likewise, and of great importance on this subject, most
recently the true Gilgal was found in Israel and the place is
in the shape of a sandal, with the foot of the sandal in a
perfect circular pattern in which the priests would circle
within the sandal on Holy Days in worship to the one true
Elohim, whose heavenly bodies circle throughout the year
in showing His sovereignty over His creation. Look at the
following scripture:
Exo 23:14 Three times in the year you shall make a
feast to Me.
The word for feast here is chagag which means
H2287, cha^gag, khaw-gag'
A primitive root (compare H2283, H2328); properly to
move in a circle, that is, (specifically) to march in a
sacred procession, to observe a festival;
Also, there are 12 constellations on the ecliptic circle called
the mazzaroth in Scripture in which the sun passes
through another constellation every 30 days and then,
when it passes the vernal equinox it resets itself in the first
constellation again to start the New Year.
Even the Jewish historian Josephus tells us that the year
can now start because the sun is in Aries. Also look at the
following quote from the historian Philo:
And the sun the ruler of the day, making two
equinoxes every year, both in the spring and the
autumn. The vernal equinox in the constellation of
27

Aries, and the autumnal one in Libra, give the most

evident demonstration possible of the divine dignity of the
number seven. For each of the equinoxes takes place in
the seventh month, at which time men are expressly
commanded by law to celebrate the greatest and most
popular and comprehensive festivals; since it is owing to
both these seasons, that all fruits of the earth are
engendered and brought to Perfection; the fruit of Grain,
and all other things which are sown, owing to the vernal
equinox; and that of the vine, and of all the other plants
which bear hard berries, of which there are great numbers,
to the autumnal one. (Philo, on the creation of the
world,1:116)
Here are several other quotes from Philo about the yearly
cycle of the sun, moon and stars as biblical markers of
time.
They were also created to serve as measures of
time; for it is by the appointed periodical revolutions
of the sun, and moon and other stars, that days and
months and years are determined. (On Creation 1:5960)
Moses puts down the beginning of the vernal
equinox as the first month of the year, (Philo on Moses
2:222).
Then the twelve stones on the breast, which are not
like one another in color, and which are divided into
four rows of three stones each, what else can they
be emblems of, except the circle of the mazzaroth?
For that also is divided into four parts, each consisting of
three animals, by which divisions it makes up the seasons
of the year, spring, summer, autumn, and winter,
distinguishing the four changes, the two solstices and the
28

two equinoxes, each of which has its limit of three

signs of this mazzaroth, by the revolutions of the
sun, according to that unchangeable, and most lasting,
and really divine ratio which exists in numbers (Philo on
Moses 2:124)
Clearly, the ancient records tell us that ancient Israel
understood the circular pattern of the heavenly bodies and
how it was connected to worship toward Yahweh each
cycle of each year. They also understood the plan of
salvation that is told throughout the year through the 12
constellations of the Mazzaroth that represents the 12
tribes of Israel and the birth, life, death, and resurrection
of Yahshua Messiah.
In order to understand the Biblical Calendar one must
understand the circular pattern of worship at feast time
due to both the Holy Days being connected to the yearly
cyclical pattern of the agricultural cycle and the circular
pattern of the heavenly luminaries, the sun, moon, and
stars. It has always been understood from biblical times
that the equinox is the dividing point of the year and the
growing cycle.
In contrast, history shows us, and it is no secret, that the
modern Jewish calendar is based from a 4th century Rabbi
and it was not codified for several hundred years after that
and it is not based on the original Hebrew calendar from
Scripture. Even in the Talmudic writings of the 2nd to 4th
century it clearly states that the Passover must be in
spring and not winter.
The modern Jewish calendar also has 4 postponement
rules, so that if the Holy Days happen to fall on a certain
day of the week that is not convenient to keep them, then

29

they simply postpone the Holy Day (in some cases up to 2

days) to the next day that is acceptable to the Rabbis.
UNBELIEVABLE! This cannot be true, some will say; but
it is true. In Rabbinical Judaism it is taught that the Rabbis
have the authority from heaven to change the Torah and
even Holy set apart appointments of Yahweh. The Talmud
also states that Yahweh is only one of 70 Rabbis and must
submit to the will of the other Rabbis. Let me list the 4
postponement rules that the current Jewish calendar uses
when the Holy Days fall on inconvenient days of the week.
U.S. Naval Observatory summarizes the four dehiyyot
[postponements] as follows:

(a) If the Tishri molad falls on day 1 [Sunday], 4

[Wednesday], or 6 [Friday], then Tishri 1 is postponed
one day.

(b) If the Tishri molad occurs at or after 18 hours

(i.e., noon), then Tishri 1 is postponed one day. If this
causes Tishri 1 to fall on day 1, 4, or 6, then Tishri 1 is
postponed an additional day to satisfy the postponement
rule (a).

(c) If the Tishri molad of an ordinary year (i.e., of

twelve months) falls on day 3 [Tuesday] at or after 9
hours, 204 halakim [at or after about 3:11 a.m.], then
Tishri 1 is postponed two days to day 5, thereby satisfying
the postponement rule (a).

(d) If the first molad [the Tishri molad] following a

leap year falls on day 2 [Monday] at or after 15 hours,
589 halakim [at or after about 9:32 a.m.], then Tishri 1 is
postponed one day to day 3 [Tuesday].

30

Remember also as already shown, that the modern Jewish

calendar starts the year incorrectly from Tishri and NOT
from the biblical Aviv. The main points of postponing
Yahwehs sacred set apart days is so a Holy Day and in
particular the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) will not fall
on a Friday or Sunday, which the Jews conceive as a
burden due to the Sabbath day next to it.
In addition, they will not allow the last day of the Feast of
Tabernacles to fall on a Sabbath due to a ritual that Jewish
tradition used to perform in beating willow branches, which
they believe would be breaking the Sabbath day. So
instead of changing their man made tradition, they just
postpone the Holy Day to another day.
Nowhere in Scripture does it ever state that any man has
the authority to change Holy time. There is a man coming
(the anti-messiah) who will attempt to change times and
laws and is strictly condemned for doing so (Dan 7:25).
Very clearly, Scripture tells us to keep the Passover on the
14th day of the first month! PERIOD! When the new moon
occurs, then on the 14th day from that time, you are to
keep the Passover. NOWHERE does Scripture ever even
remotely suggest about postponing Yahwehs Holy
Appointments.
Some will still argue that the oracles of Yahweh were given
to the Jews and we must follow whatever calendar they
use, even if it is wrong.
Rom 3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or
what profit is there of circumcision?
Rom 3:2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto
them were committed the oracles of Yahweh.
This is not proper reasoning or the meaning of this
scripture.
31

The oracles of Yahweh spoken about in Romans the 3rd

chapter is not even remotely hinting that the Jewish
Rabbis were given authority to change the eternal word of
Yahweh and that believers in Yahshua must follow them.
The word oracle comes from the Greek word logos, and
means the utterance or words of Yahweh were given to the
Jews to preserve, NOT change. Judah never lost their
identity because it was their job to preserve the Torah
unabated so that the people would still have the pure word
of Yahweh for when the Messiah would come in the first
century AD.
Romans 3:1-2, is stating that the advantage that Judah
had over Ephraim is that since they always had the written
Torah preserved, then they had the first chance at
salvation, as where Ephraim, who had lost his identity had
to wait patiently in captivity for the good news message to
come to them. By far in no way does the fact that Judahs
job was to preserve the written Torah give them liberty to
change any part of it. Anyone who even changed one word
of Scripture was under a curse.
Deu 4:2 You shall not add to the Word which I
command you, nor take from it, to keep the
commandments of Yahweh your Elohim which I
command you.
Actually the oracles of Yahweh (His written word) were
only entrusted to Judah until the Messiah would come and
then it would be the job of the followers of the Messiah to
preserve the true unadulterated word from there.
Gen 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh
come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people
be.
32

Also, you must remember the 4 postponement rules

mentioned above WERE NOT IN FORCE in the first
century in the days of Yahshua, and I will quote straight
out of the Jewish Mishnah to prove that point conclusively.
It is from the Mishnah that we learn that a Holy Day could
occur on any day of the week (Dansbys translation) such
as is given on p. 125, #6: On a Festival-day next to the
Sabbath, whether before it or after it, a man may prepare
two Erubs
Still with the Mishnah, on p. 146 #10 we learn that the
16th Aviv may fall on a Sabbath; pp. 197, 201, 213 show
that the old calendar is not in harmony with the presentday Jewish calendar. In fact p. 509 #7 shows that the
Day of Atonement could fall on a Friday, the day before
the weekly Sabbath. This is in direct opposition to the
modern Jewish calendar which has postponements rules
so the Day of Atonement cannot be either before or after
the weekly Sabbath.
So there you have it. If we are to follow the Rabbis for
the setting of the calendar, which Rabbis of which era do
we follow, as the Jewish calendar today is not the
calendar used in the days of Yahshua, and not even the
one used in the 2nd to 4th century, as at that time the
Passover used to fall before the vernal equinox and now
the Passover, but not the first day of Aviv, must fall after
the vernal equinox. Also, there were no postponement
laws in the time of Yahshua and the year before he died
Yom Kippur actually fell on a Sunday, which would be
against one of the rules of postponement.
I would also like to prove from the New Testament that
conclusively there were no postponement rules in the first
century, during Yahshuas ministry.
33

Joh 7:2 And the Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles

was near.
Joh 7:37 And in the last day of the great feast,
Yahshua stood and cried out, saying, If anyone
thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
Joh 7:53 And they each one went to his house.
Joh 8:1 But Yahshua went to the Mount of Olives.
Joh 8:2 And at dawn, He again arrived into the
temple; and all the people came to Him. And sitting
down, He taught them. (This is the next day after
the last great day)
Joh 9:1 And passing by, He saw a man blind from
birth. (It is still the same day after last Great day)
Joh 9:7 And He said to him, Go, wash in the pool of
Siloam, which translated is Sent. Then he went and
washed, and came seeing.
Joh 9:14 And it was a Sabbath when Yahshua made
the clay and opened his eyes.
Interesting enough if you read the above scriptures you
will see that the Last Great Day or the 8th day of the feast
was on a Friday and the next day was a Sabbath when
Yahshua healed the blind man. Knowing this for sure from
Scripture, just merely count back from Friday, the Last
Great Day which is the 22nd day of the 7th month, back to
the 10th day of the month, which is Yom Kippur, and you
will see that it was on a Sunday, so right here from
Scripture one can easily disprove that there was any type
of postponement rules for Yom Kippur not falling on a
Sunday in the first century.
Scripture is very clear. Yahweh created the Sun and moon
and stars to tell us the timing of His Holy Days. No man
has the authority to change that. To postpone the Feast of

34

Trumpets for a day is no different than postponing the

Sabbath for Sunday. There is no scriptural basis for either.
Clearly, from Scripture we are to start the year in spring
after the vernal equinox and not in winter before it; thus,
the next new moon after the equinox was the beginning
month of Aviv, thus always occurring in the spring. If the
12th month of the year (Adar) fell early enough to allow
another new moon to occur before the vernal equinox, it
necessitated adding a 13th month and waiting until the
vernal equinox was observed as the beginning of spring
and the New Year. This addition of an intercalary month
always kept the 1st month of the year after the vernal
equinox!
The year is an astronomical event determined by the sun!
It is the point at which the revolution of the earth around
the sun comes to complete its cycle. The sun determines
the year! And that returning point is the vernal equinox.
Determining Passover after the beginning of the New Year,
i.e. after the Vernal Equinox, then setting Aviv 1st before
the vernal equinox, would be allowing Passover to be in
the New Year, but setting Aviv 1st before the year ends,
i.e. before the circuit of the sun is complete at the vernal
equinox is still in the winter of the previous year, which is
not Aviv. That is the reason for intercalary years, i.e. the
addition of an extra month, so that the first new moon
after the year begins, after the vernal equinox, is Aviv.
The year 2013 is one such year when the Jewish calendar
will be starting the year in winter, one month earlier than
the Biblical Calendar.
This brings us to one most important point why Yahweh
and the Biblical Calendar never had people visually
observing the heavenly bodies to start time, but it was
35

actually the absence of seeing these bodies that

controlled time.
The day starts when the sun disappears over the
horizon and is not visible any longer. The month starts
at conjunction when the last waning crescent has
disappeared and now the moon is in perfect alignment
(conjunction) with the sun and earth, and the year
begins when the sun passes the equator and now is
back into the first heavenly constellation of the year.
Again this is not something that you go and physically
sight but we know the day of the vernal equinox by the
shadow of the thing Not seen (the sun) as we read in
Hebrews 11:1.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things
being hoped, the evidence of things not having
been seen.
It is by the shadow of the sun that one can determine
the day of the equinox as was done in biblical times
with sundials. There have been many ancient sundials
found right near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and it
is even stated that Solomon built the Temple so that
the sun would shine through the eastern gate only on
the day of the equinoxes, the dividing point of the
winter and summer and the old year and New Year.
Then the next new moon after the equinox is Aviv, the
beginning of months. How simple Yahwehs Biblical
Calendar really is.

36

Chapter 3- When Does the Month

Begin?
What is a new moon according to Scripture? Everything
that our Heavenly Father does has judicial order.
Simply put judicial order is the order that Yahweh set
out at creation of how things work, such as gravity.
Yahwehs judicial order sets precedent for our lives and
how we are to worship Him. So when looking at what
constitutes a new moon according to Scripture, we will
look at the precedents that He has set, since He does
not change (Mal 3:6).
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things
being hoped, the evidence of things not having
been seen.
Heb 11:3 By faith we understand the ages to
have been framed by the Word of Yahweh, so that
the things seen should not come into being out of
things that already appear.
So here we see the precedent laid out at creation is
that the things created did not come into being out of
things that already appeared. The same way that the
world started in darkness (Gen 1:2-3), and the day
starts in darkness, and even life in the womb starts in
darkness, the precedent set is that the month starts at
conjunction, the exact time each month that the earth,
the moon and the sun are lined up in perfect order. It
is like when your watch is at exactly 12:00 oclock and
resetting, when the moon and earth and sun totally line
up at that one moment each 29 days at conjunction,
which is the beginning of the new month.

37

Yahweh is perfect and symmetrical. The sun, moon and

stars are a clock in the sky. Since most people in
ancient times were either farmers or shepherds it
stands to reason that Yahweh would make telling time
very simple, logical and symmetrical.
When you see a quarter moon the month is over.
When you see a full moon the month is half over. When
you see a waning of a moon left, the month is
over, and when the moon is dark again at conjunction
it is resetting the new month. If someone was starting
the new month by visually sighting a crescent moon,
then when you see a quarter moon it would not be
of the month over, when you see a full moon, it would
not be of the month over. It would throw off the
symmetrical sighting of the whole moon cycle.
Also if we look at Genesis 1:14:
Gen 1:14 And Elohim said, Let light sources be in the
expanse of the heavens, to divide between the day and
the night. And let them be for signs and for (Holy
day) seasons, and for days and years.
So we see again the precedent set out by Yahweh is
that the luminary bodies (sun, moon, and stars) would
be the dividing factor on calculating time. Since the sun
is the greater light it would rule the day, and the moon
being the lesser light would rule the month, and a
combination of the sun and stars and their yearly
rotation and cycle would rule the year. This is how the
Holy Days would be counted. Also notice there is
nothing stated here about barley. Please read our study
paper on How Does the Biblical Year Begin to
know more about the biblical way for starting the year.

38

Now, also notice that it never states that you must

visibly sight the sun or moon to start your day or
month. The complete opposite; we know the day starts
with the absence of the sun, and the monthly cycle
equally starts with the absence of the moon. As the sun
passes over the horizon and can no longer be seen, the
new day begins, just as when the waning crescent
disappears and the moon enters perfect alignment with
the sun and earth at conjunction and starts the new
month.
Psa 104:19 He made the moon for seasons
(mo'edim); the sun knows its going down.
Notice that the sun knows its going down. As
mentioned, it is the absence of the sun that starts the
day as it is the absence of the moon that starts the
month.
Hebrew originally was a hieroglyphic language and
instead of having letters it had 22 pictures. When you put
the pictures together they made words and sentences.
The original Hebrew word picture for new moon is
the separation, of the cycle or pathway, of the
consuming moon. This would have to be conjunction.
The moon never stops, it is always moving in its rotation,
but once roughly every 29 days that cycle passes at
one split moment with the earth and suns cycle causing
the darkness of the moon and separation from its cycle of
light. The conjunction cycle is very constant roughly every
29 days, but because its rotation is elliptical and not
circular, visibly sighting a crescent can range anywhere
from 12 hours after conjunction to 72 hours after
conjunction. Yahweh would not use such an unreliable
source to start the month and also have to depend on
mans reliability in reporting it.
39

Also, what if it is cloudy? How would one visibly sight a

moon in such conditions, they would have to postpone
the new month even though the moon may be visible
because they cannot see it due to the cloud cover. This
would be no different than the postponement rules of
the Rabbis in starting the New Year. Also, when one is
sighting a crescent in Jerusalem to begin the month,
how would someone in the USA before modern
technology know when a crescent moon was sighted in
Israel? How could you start your year and month and
keep Passover correctly without knowing when the
month began?
Here are few questions that crescent moon sighters must
ask themselves when looking into the proper manner of
how the biblical month begins.
1) If one is sighting a crescent moon to start the month,
then do you go by a local crescent sighting or by
Jerusalem? If a local sighting is stated, then there could
be up to 3 different dates for the same Holy Day and if
they are going by a sighting in Jerusalem, then how
could you know when a crescent was sighted in
Jerusalem before telephones and Internet. How could
New Covenant believers keep the Passover every year as
commanded if they did not know when was Aviv 1? This
is also a good argument against starting the year by only
barley in Jerusalem.
2) If you must physically see the moon to start the
month, then what do you do when it is cloudy? What if
the moon would have been seen if the clouds are not
there and they postpone simply because of the clouds?

40

3) Also, since the moon cycles path has a 5 degree

angle compared to the earth, the new moon can be seen
as early as 18 hours after conjunction one month, or up
to 72 hours another month, almost a 4 day difference in
other months. How could you be almost 4 days into the
moon cycle and only call it day one?
Deu 16:1 Observe the month Aviv, and perform
the Passover to YAHWEH your Elohim. For in the
month of Aviv YAHWEH your Elohim brought you
out of Egypt by night.
Crescent moon proponents will frequently go to this
scripture as proof that one must physically sight a
crescent moon to begin the month. However, The word
used for observe in the original Hebrew is Strongs
8104 Shawmar and does not mean to physically look
at, but rather to keep, to guard and protect, to be
aware of. It is the exact same word that is used in
Exodus 31:16, when we are told that we are to observe
the Sabbath day, and I dont think anyone will argue
that on the Sabbath we are not visibly sighting
something to start the day, actually it is the very
opposite, it is the absence of the sun that tells us that
the Sabbath has started.
And this brings us to the most important point why
Yahweh and the Biblical Calendar never had people
visually observing the heavenly bodies to start time,
but it was actually the absence of seeing these bodies
that controlled time.
The day starts when the sun disappears over the
horizon and is not visible any longer. The month starts
at conjunction when the last waning crescent has
disappeared and now the moon is in perfect alignment
41

(conjunction) with the sun and earth, and the year

begins when the sun passes the equator and now is
back into the first heavenly constellation of the year.
Again this is not something that you go and physically
sight but we know the day of the vernal equinox by the
shadow of the thing Not seen (the sun) as we read in
Hebrews 11:1.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things
being hoped, the evidence of things not having
been seen.
It is by the shadow of the sun that one can determine
the day of the equinox as was done in biblical times
with sundials. There have been many ancient sundials
found right near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and it
is even stated that Solomon built the Temple so that
the sun would shine through the eastern gate only on
the day of the equinox.
Col 2:16 Therefore do not let anyone (outside the
body) judge among you about eating, or drinking, or in
how you keep the feast days, or the new moon, or the
Sabbath day,
Col 2:17 which remain shadows of coming things,
but the body of Messiah.
Yahweh specifically made the calculating of time the
way He did so that men would not have to visibly
sight the sun or moon, or stars and then start to
worship them as the pagans did. If you look at the
Torah, you will see that Yahweh specifically
commanded not to look at or worship the sun, the
moon and the stars.
Deu 4:19 and that you not lift up your eyes
towards the heavens and when thou see the sun
42

and the moon and the stars, even all the host of
heaven, and you be drawn away and worship
them, and serve them; which YAHWEH your
Elohim has allotted to all the peoples under all
the heavens.
Now do you honestly think in an area where people
were worshipping the sun and moon and stars, and
with the Israelites propensity to paganism with the
golden calf, that He would really have them go every
month out to sight a crescent moon? It would be like
sending an alcoholic to watch a room full of whiskey
and telling him not to drink.
Also, lets look at the following scripture in the book of
Deuteronomy.
Deu 17:2 When there is found among you, in one of
your gates which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving to you,
a man or woman who does that which is evil in the
sight of YAHWEH your Elohim, in transgressing His
covenant,
Deu 17:3 and has gone and served other gods,
and worshiped them; or the sun, or the moon, or
of the host of the heavens, which I have not
commanded;
Deu 17:4 and it has been revealed to you, and you
have heard, and searching have searched; and, behold,
it is true; and the thing is confirmed, that this hateful
thing has been done in Israel,
Deu 17:5 then you shall bring out to your gates that
man or that woman who has done this evil thing, the
man or the woman; and you shall stone them with
stones, and they shall die.

43

When Yahweh appeared to Israel at Mount Sinai He

specifically only let them hear His voice but did not
allow them to see any image so that they would not try
to make an idol out of it. In the same manner Yahweh
would never have Israelites visibly sight a crescent
each month knowing it would provoke them to making
idolatrous images.
Deu 4:11 And you drew near and stood below the
mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the
heart of the heavens, darkness, cloud and thick
gloom.
Deu 4:12 And YAHWEH spoke to you out of the midst
of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you did
not see a form, only a voice.
When Israel entered the land of Canaan (later to be
called Israel) under Joshua, there were Canaanites,
Perezites, Jebusites, Amorites and other pagans who
were living there and sanctifying the crescent moon.
This is why Yahweh told Israel not to do such a thing
and this is why very clearly visibly sighting a crescent
moon is not the way that the Biblical Calendar starts
the month.
There is a word in Hebrew for crescent, but it is never
used, not even once when referring to the new moon.
The word used in Scripture when referring to the new
moon is Rosh Chodesh which literally means the head
of the month or beginning of the moon cycle, which
again gives reference to the conjunction or starting
point of the moon cycle, when the sun, moon and earth
are in perfect alignment, and there is absolutely no
evidence that Israelites ever visibly sighted a crescent
before the Babylonian captivity. By the time a crescent
44

would be visible this would no longer be the head of

the cycle or Rosh Chodesh, but would be one to 3 days
into the cycle itself.
Lets look at another scripture that does use the
Hebrew word for crescent saharon:
Isa 3:18 In that day YAHWEH will take away the
beauty of the ankle bracelets, the headbands, and the
crescents,
Isa 3:19 the pendants, the bracelets and the veils;
If one is honest they will admit that the word crescent
is only three times mentioned in Scripture and never in
connection with the start of the month, but always in
connection with a pagan amulet that is being ripped off
and destroyed.
As mentioned, the word for New Moon in Scripture is
Rosh Chodesh and literally means the head of the
new. The word moon or in Hebrew Yarach is not
even mentioned, never mind the fact that crescent is
not mentioned.
The name Lucifer in Hebrew is he^yle^l (read : haylale'). According to Strongs Dictionary it means (in the
sense of brightness); light: - Lucifer.
The word he^yle^l in Hebrew has the same meaning in
Arabic. Hilal (Arabic) : is an Arabic term,
particularly associated with the crescent moon, first
developed in pre-Islamic Arabia.
The very slight crescent moon is what is first visible a
day or two or three after a new moon. Muslims start
their month not by conjunction but by the cultic
crescent moon. Muslims look for the hilal (crescent)
45

when determining the beginning and end of Islamic

months. In the modern world, Hilal is a representation
of the moon in Arabian astrology.
In modern times, Hilal was connected with the later
Monotheistic deity of Allah. The worshipping of Allah is
always connected to the moon, and through the
discernment of the Scripture we all know that he^yle^l
(Hebrew) or Hilal (Arabic) is the same object. He is
Lucifer or Satan. So from the above example we can
see that the worshipping of Allah is the worshipping of
the moon god and also the worshipping of Lucifer.
Crescent moons are also connected with communism,
occultism and other secular non-biblical evil
associations. The crescent moon is also an attribute of
Isis, the Great Mother of the Egyptians, and in
Christian iconography, of the Virgin Mary".
It is inconceivable that Yahweh would use such an
occultic, pagan, symbol to start His Biblical Calendar
each and every month.
If we read the story of Gideon in Judges 8:21, it is
telling us that Yahweh does not like moon god
worshipping.
Jdg 8:21 And Zebah and Zalmunna said, You rise up
and fall on us, for as the man, so is his might. And
Gideon rose up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and
took the moon crescents which were on the necks of
their camels.
There are no biblical or historical records that ever
show that Israel was visibly sighting a crescent moon
to start the month before they came out of the
captivity of Babylon in 539 BC. As a matter of fact, we
46

know that Israel retained the crescent moon from

Babylon because once they returned from the captivity
they also adopted the Babylonian names of the
months, such as Nisan, and Tammuz. Let me give the
following scripture to prove the point that during the
time of King David the nation of Israel was not sighting
a crescent moon to start the month, but were going by
calculation.
1Sa 20:5 And David said to Jonathan, Behold, the
new moon is tomorrow. And sitting I should certainly
sit with the king to eat. And you shall send me away,
and I shall be hidden in the field until the third evening.
David very distinctly stated that the NEW MOON is
TOMORROW! If Israel was visibly waiting to sight a
crescent moon, then how would he conclusively know
the New Moon would be the next day? Some may then
say maybe this was the 30th day of the month and it
had to be the New Moon? However, as a matter of fact
this cannot be the 30th day of the month as the New
Moon celebration that takes place in the above
scripture lasts for 2 days and the New Moon would
have been the 29th day or 30th day, but there is never
31 days in a biblical month. Clearly if the New Moon
was conclusively known, then it had to be calculated
according to the conjunction.
Nowhere in Scripture does Yahweh ever command to
visibly sight a crescent moon to start the month. The
following scripture will prove this point.
Psa 81:3 Blow the ram's horn in the new moon,
at the covered moon, on our feast day.

47

This scripture, which was originally written in Hebrew, has

always been known to refer to the Feast of Trumpets or in
Hebrew Yom Teruah. So if the first day of the 7th month is
a new moon and it is covered or concealed as the
scripture states, then it can only be referring to the
conjunction and not sighting a crescent. The word for
covered moon is keseh and in Hebrew means to be fully
covered, or concealed, which again can only refer to the
conjunction of the moon.
Also on the Feast of Yom Teruah look at the following
scripture:
Lev 23:24 Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, In the
seventh month, on the first of the month, a Holy
Day Sabbath shall be to you, a memorial acclamation
of the resounding of trumpets, a holy gathering.
Clearly, the feast of Trumpets is only ONE day; the
first day of the 7th month. However, if you are going by
48

a crescent sighting, then you would not see the

crescent till sometime after sunset and not knowing if it
would be sighted or not would force the act of keeping
this day as a Sabbath whether or not the crescent
would actually be seen.
This fact alone clearly shows that the calendar has to
be calculated according to conjunction as Holy Day
Sabbaths must begin at sunset and the crescent is not
seen until later in the evening and how would you know
whether this was the first day of the seventh month
until later in the evening when the crescent would or
would not appear. If the Holy Day is calculated from
sunset to sunset, then also the means to calculate the
day must also be known before sunset to know
whether or not it is the Holyday. It is totally ridiculous
to think that Yahweh would command a Holyday to be
observed and you would not be able to know whether it
was that day until later in the evening after the moon
came up or didnt come up.
Also, we know that Yahshua was not crucified on a
Friday, as you cannot get three days and three nights
in the grave from Friday afternoon until Sunday
morning (Math 12:38-40), but He was crucified midweek. Now if you go to the year He was crucified in 30
A.D. you can only come up with a mid-week crucifixion
if you start your month by conjunction, but if you are
visibly sighting a crescent, you are back to a Friday
crucifixion, which is impossible according to Scripture.
There is ample historical proof to clearly show a 30
A.D. crucifixion.
Another important point to make when discussing this
subject is that although we know that Israel was visibly
sighting a crescent moon after coming out of Babylon,
49

we also know that Hillel the Elder (Not Hillel the 2nd)
reinstituted the conjunction for starting a month in
10BC, just 7 years before the birth of Yahshua.
In the book Magid Harakia on page 35 it states that the
Rabbis at the time of Hillel knew how to calculate the
months, but guarded it as a secret and simply used the
sighting of the crescent to confirm their calculations.
Regardless, though, history clearly tells us that Hillel
the Elder in 10BC reinstituted calculating the month by
conjunction as Jim Ingle also stated in his Biblical
Calendar dissertation. So well respected was Hillel the
Elder that the Talmud actually calls him the successor
to the priest Ezra.
There is one among you who is worthy that the
Shekinah should rest on him as it did with Moses, but
his generation does not merit it. The sages present set
their eyes on Hillel the Elder. And when he died they
lamented and said, alas the pious man, the humble
man, the disciple of Ezra. (The Babylonian Talmud
Sanhedrin 11a)
When we look at Yahwehs pattern (that does not
change Mal 3:6) we see from Gen 1:14 that Yahweh
sets the standard for time by the natural, circular,
rotation of the sun, moon and stars. When the earth
revolves once on its axis it is called a day from sunset
to sunset (Lev 23:32). When the earth circles around
the sun from equinox to equinox in a complete circular
revolution, it is a year, and when the moon makes a
full revolution around the earth and resets itself at
conjunction it is a month. By calculating the moon by a
crescent moon it throws the whole circular pattern of
everything off by up to 3 days.

50

The crescent is not a constant and can be seen

anywhere from 12 hours after conjunction to up to 72
hours later. In the entirety of Scripture there is not one
single command to visibly sight a crescent to start the
month, but as Ps 81:3 clearly states, The New Moon
starts at the time of the covered moon (conjunction).
By human beings incorrectly bringing human response
into the equation, whether it be by man planting
barley, or men sighting at what time the crescent moon
was seen, it negates the sovereign power that Yahweh
has over His luminary bodies. Nowhere in Scripture is
any human activity connected with being needed to be
able to start a new time cycle as is witnessed during
Noahs flood (Gen 8:13-14).
Actually, Yahweh simply tells us in Scripture what the
markers are for the time He created (Gen 1:14) and
man was simply meant to watch for those markers and
see the heavenly signs for the start of the day, month,
and year, but not to try to cause them.

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Chapter 4 - Which Day is the

Conjunction?
Yahweh works in the circular not the linear and the month
revolves around the geometrical sphere of the moon as a
perfect circle. When you see a quarter moon it is of the
month. When you see a full moon it is half month, when
you see a waning quarter it is over and when the moon
is dark and resetting it is new moon. Yahweh also forbids
us in Deut 4:19 to look up at the sun and the moon and
stars and to worship them. This is why, among many
other reasons, I believe the scriptural way to begin the
new month is by the conjunction of the moon, instead of
visual observance of a crescent moon which came out of
Babylon.
So the next question would be, when do we calculate the
beginning of the new month, on the day of conjunction or
wait until sunset of that day? I believe this chapter will
answer that question.
First of all lets define what a conjunction is. According to
the Encyclopedia Britannia in astronomy, a conjunction
is an apparent meeting or passing of two or more
celestial bodies at the same celestial longitude. The
Moon is in conjunction with the Sun at the phase of
New Moon, when it moves between the Earth and
Sun and the side turned toward the Earth is dark.
There are several fallacies connected with the
conjunction. One is that it happens at every place on
earth, at the same time all over the earth. It is because of
this false belief that some keep the new moon on the day
of conjunction, starting the evening before the
conjunction actually happens, even though this may be
up to 23 hours before the actual conjunction, and is still
52

the last day of the old month. Some of these same people
will contest that we cannot start the year before the
vernal equinox, because you would be starting a new year
before the old year is over. Although we also believe that
the year cannot start until the changing from winter to
summer, this is a total contradiction to starting every new
month before the actual conjunction really happens.
The problem is with some peoples flawed definition of
what a conjunction is. Basically from the above definition
we see that a conjunction is basically an eclipse of the
moon, due to it lining up between the earth and sun, and
causing one side to be basically dark. Because it is the
instant when the Moon and the Sun have the same
ecliptical longitude the moon is actually never 100% dark,
but still cannot be seen with the naked eye. For the
crescent sighters who claim the month must start by
light, they are ignorant to this fact that even at
conjunction there is light already just not visible to the
naked eye. So there argument is baseless, but that they
must witness this light before they can belief the new
month actually began. But as we already proved faith is
the evidence of things unseen, and Yahwehs biblical
timing does not need mans unfaithful testimony to start
the heavenly cycle which begins at conjunction each
month.
Logic will tell you that if an eclipse is happening in Japan
it cannot be happening on the other side of the globe in
New York at the same time. So although the New Moon
conjunction happens at only one moment in time roughly
each 29 and days, it does not occur at every place on
earth. By the very definition of a conjunction the celestial
bodies (in this case the moon, sun and earth) must be in
the same longitude. When the moon is in conjunction with
53

the earth at Rosh Chodesh, the whole earth is not in the

same longitude, only the area where the conjunction
occurs. So conjunction DOES NOT happen in every place
all over the earth, at the same time, although it does
happen at only one moment of time roughly every 29
days. Just go to a conjunction website, and look at a
picture of a conjunction from any given month and you
will see this is plainly correct.
So the conjunction would happen at one spot on earth
which would trigger the new moon or month in that area
where sunset would just be occurring, then just like we
do each week with the Sabbath we would wait, according
to where we are on the earth for the earth to rotate on its
axis, and the new month to come to us whenever it would
be sunset in our given area. We do not start the Sabbath
at 12:00 noon in New York because it is sunset in
Jerusalem, so why would we start the new month in some
cases 23 hours or more before the old month has ended
because a sunset or conjunction has occurred across the
world somewhere?
The next false assumption for some to start the month on
the day of conjunction, instead of waiting for the next
sunset, is that some have said that you celebrate your
anniversary on the day of your anniversary, not the next
day. On the surface this sounds logical, but again if my
anniversary were March 1, I am not going to start to
celebrate my anniversary on February 28 because it has
already turned to March 1 in Israel. By waiting till sunset
in your given area after a conjunction has happened
somewhere on earth, is not starting your month late. The
month started at the very moment wherever the
conjunction occurred on earth, and you are simply waiting

54

for the earth to rotate and sunset and the new month to
come to you, just as we do each and every Sabbath.
Let us go back to creation and make this matter even
simpler to understand. Most will agree that Scripture
indicates that before the flood of Noah there were 12, 30
day months in each year.
Gen 7:11a In the six hundredth year of the life of
Noah, in the second month, in the seventeenth day
of the month,
Gen 7:24 and the waters are mighty on the earth a
hundred and fifty days.
Gen 8:4 And the ark rested, in the seventh month,
in the seventeenth day of the month, on mountains
of Ararat;
So we see that at creation there were 12 equal 30 day
months. We also know that the sun moon and stars were
given to tell the time of the moedim or holy or set apart
appointments of Yahweh.
Gen 1:14 And Elohim said, `Let luminaries be in
the expanse of the heavens, to make a separation
between the day and the night, then they have been
for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years,
The word for seasons is moedim, which are the Holy
Days of Leviticus 23. Also, we know the Holy Days were
not commanded to Israel in the wilderness, but when
they would enter the land of Israel they were to keep
these days, although they did keep one Passover there.
Lev 23:9 And YAHWEH spoke unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:10 `Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou
hast said unto them, When ye come in unto the land
which I am giving to you, and have reaped its
55

harvest, and have brought in the sheaf, the

beginning of your harvest unto the priest,
So we see that the command to keep these Holy Days
was to be from Israel, and particularly from Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is also called the center of the earth (Ezek
38:12). So it would stand to reason that before the flood
when there were 12, 30 day months that the conjunction
would have happened about 90 degrees west of
Jerusalem, so that sunset would have been at Jerusalem
the center of the earth, each and every month. With that
being the case, then it would stand to reason that if you
were living in New York at this time, then when sunset
happened in Jerusalem and it was only 12 noon in NY,
you would not have started your new month 18 hours
before on the preceding day, but would have waited 7
hours after sunset in Jerusalem, until it was sunset in NY
and your month began. This is only logical and how we
observe each and every Sabbath, waiting for the day to
come to us, so why should we create a new rule that does
not exist for the new month?
Let us also shed a little more light on the subject (no pun
intended) to make it clearer. Most will agree that at
creation there were 12, 30 day months as we proved
from the book of Genesis. So what caused the moons
rotation to change to make it only a 29 day rotation?
Well, recently science now acclaims that this change
happened somewhere around 700 BC. That is very
interesting. What happened around 700 BC that could
have changed the course of the celestial bodies? The
answer is that was the time when Hezekiah asked Yahweh
to move the sundial back 10 degrees.
Isa 38:7 And this is to thee the sign from YAHWEH,
that YAHWEH does this thing that He has spoken.
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Isa 38:8 Lo, I am bringing back the shadow of the

degrees that it hath gone down on the degrees of
Ahaz, by the sun, backward ten degrees:' and the
sun turned back ten degrees in the degrees that it
had gone down.
If even science has scientific proof that this is the time
frame that the celestial bodies changed their course, I see
no reason not to believe that this was the event that did
it. But something else happened at around the time of
700 BC that would also play a part in the calendar
change. Remember how we just went over that the Holy
Days were given to the nation of Israel for when they
entered the land of Israel. Yahweh also commanded them
that they must come up to Jerusalem and only Jerusalem
for these days.
Deu 16:16 Three times in a year doth every one of
thy males appear before YAHWEH thy Elohim in the
place which He doth choose--in the feast of
unleavened things, and in the feast of weeks, and in
the feast of booths; and they do not appear before
YAHWEH empty;
That is why it stands to reason that when conjunction
happened it would be sunset at Jerusalem each and
every month when there were 12, 30 day months, since
the whole reason for creating these heavenly bodies was
to show Israel the appointed times in Jerusalem.
Now, not only did Yahweh take back the sun dial for
Hezekiah around 700 BC, but something else major
happened in the history of Israel. In 721-18 BC Israel
went into captivity to Assyria and into the four corners of
the earth. One of the major punishments of this Diaspora
was that they would no longer be able to keep the Holy
57

Days in Jerusalem. Conjunction happened each month at

Jerusalem to start the month and showed where
Yahwehs covenant people were. Isnt it interesting that
since about 700 BC, now no longer does conjunction and
sunset happen each month at Jerusalem, but somewhere
different each month all over the earth? It is never in the
same place two months in a row, but as the rotation of
the celestial bodies moves so does the location of
conjunction and sunset.
If the conjunction was placed in Jerusalem, the center of
the earth, before Israels captivity it cant be a
coincidence that after their captivity it has been moved to
different places all over the earth every month. If
conjunction in Jerusalem each month was to show where
Yahwehs covenant people were, then by having
conjunction somewhere different each month it shows
that Israels Diaspora is all over the globe, which history
proves to be correct.
I believe that these facts cannot be overlooked. Before
700 BC, if you lived in North America and observed the
New Moon, you would have waited until the conjunction in
Jerusalem and then some 7 hours later at sunset in your
local area you would have started your new month, not
some 18 hours before the conjunction would have even
happened.
One more point for major consideration on this subject.
When I was studying the whole issue of the New Moon by
conjunction or visual observance, I went to one scripture
that clearly tells us when the New Moon is.
Psa 81:3 Blow the rams horn in the new moon, at
the covered moon, on our solemn feast day

58

We have went to several linguistic scholars in Israel

asking them for the true definition of Kehseh being
rendered covered moon, and we have been told the
definition means to cover fully. When you put a lid on a
garbage can you would use the word kehseh to describe
putting the lid on the can to fully cover it or putting a cap
and covering your head you would use kehseh. We have
also been told by experts from Israel that this psalm has
always been referred to by the Rabbis as referring to the
Feast of Trumpets, or in Hebrew Yom Teruah, the
only Holy Day which happens on the New Moon, which
clearly shows from this psalm that it would be calculated
by the conjunction, when the moon is fully covered by
darkness and not by the sighting of a crescent moon.
This verse dogmatically proved to me that the new month
starts by conjunction and not visual sighting. Just think
about that symmetrically for a moment. If the moon is
nothing more than a clock in the sky, then a quarter
moon would have to be a quarter, and a full moon would
have to be half month, and what is the opposite of a full
moon? Conjunction! If you had a full apple pie on your
table, what would be the opposite of that full pie? The
answer is no pie.
The only problem being when you calculate the new moon
up to 23 hours early, calculating by the day of
conjunction and not waiting till sunset in your area after
conjunction, when the earth rotates and the month comes
to you, you will never have your Holy Day hag or Feast of
Sukkot on the full moon. Go to a computer program and
check this out for yourself. The only way to assure your
feast always falls on the full moon is to calculate your
month by conjunction, waiting till sunset in your area
after the conjunction occurs. If you start the new month
59

early on the day of conjunction before the new moon

comes to the area that you live, you will always start your
month early and rarely ever have your Holy Day hag on
the full moon. Going by visual sighting almost never has
their holy day fall on the full moon. The only way to
assure your Holy Day always will fall on the full moon is
to wait for the conjunction eclipse to happen and then let
the earth rotate to you, and at sunset your new month
would begin. As with the Sabbath, within 24 hours of
conjunction the earth would have done a full rotation on
its axis and the new month would have started all over
the globe.
Lets look in the next chapter at a most interesting
subject of hen was Yahshua crucified, as the date of this
most important event hinges on several other dates and
doctrines.

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Chapter 5 - When Was Yahshua

Crucified?
In the New Testament, Yahshua clearly gave us the only
sign that we would know that He was the Messiah.
Mat 12:39 But answering, He said to them, An evil and
adulterous generation seeks a sign, and a sign shall not
be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
Mat 12:40 And even as "Jonah was in the belly of the
huge fish three days and three nights," so shall the Son of
Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three
nights.
That sign is the resurrection; that He would die, but
that Yahweh would raise Him up according to Scripture.
Psa 16:9 So my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my
flesh shall also rest in hope.
Psa 16:10 For You will not leave My soul in Sheol;
You will not give Your Holy One to see corruption.
Psa 16:11 You will make Me know the way of life. In
Your presence is fullness of joys; at Your right hand are
pleasures forever.
99% of professing Christianity celebrates the death and
resurrection of Yahshua each year from Good Friday (day
6) to Easter Sunday (first day of the week). And yet a
child can see that you cannot get 3 days and 3 nights
from late afternoon Friday to early Sunday morning,
clearly showing that the Good Friday crucifixion and
Easter Sunday morning resurrection cannot be supported
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by Scripture and is merely a tradition of the Catholic

Church.
From the scriptures that I will provide it will prove most
dogmatically that a Thursday crucifixion is the only day
that fits the Scriptural mandate. Scripture states that on
the third day, He (Yahshua) will rise instead of after it.
Mark 9:31 For He taught His disciples, and said to them,
The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of men, and
they will kill Him. And being killed, He will rise up on the
third day.
Mat 16:21 From that time, Yahshua began to show to
His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go away to
Jerusalem, and to suffer many things from the elders and
chief priests and scribes, and to be killed, and to be
raised on the third day.
Mat 17:23 And they will kill Him, and on the third day
He will be raised. And they grieved exceedingly.
Mat 20:19 And they will deliver Him up to the nations to
mock, and to scourge, and to crucify. And on the third
day He will rise again.
Luk 18:33 And flogging Him, they will kill Him. And on
the third day He will rise again.
Luk 9:22 saying, The Son of Man must suffer many
things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the third day.
So it appears pretty clear from Scripture that Yahshua
would be raised ON the third day and NOT after the third
day on the fourth day. This is because the body would rot
by the fourth day and would be corroded. That is why Ps
16:10 states you have not left my soul in Sheol, you
have not let your Holy one see corruption. The indication
is that the Messiah would not be left in the grave until the
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4th day when the body would have started to corrode.

Look at the following scripture to also confirm this from
the death of Lazarus or Eliazar in the Hebrew.
Joh 11:17 Then coming, Yahshua found him already
being held in the tomb four days.
Joh 11:38 Then groaning again within Himself, Yahshua
came to the tomb. And it was a cave, and a stone was
placed upon its entrance.
Joh 11:39 And Yahshua said, Take this stone away!
Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, My
Master, it is the fourth day. He stinks already!
So there is no doubt in Scripture that Yahshua plainly
prophesied that He would be resurrected out of the tomb
on the third day and NOT after it. Now the next
question is the third day from when?
I believe Luke 24 gives us our answer. Yahshua met 2
disciples, one whose name was Cleopas and they did not
recognize him, and He asked why they were so sad. They
continued to explain to him about the things that had
happened to Yahshua and they told him plainly;
Luk 24:21b But then with all these things, this
third day comes today since these things happened.
We know this encounter happened on a Sunday, the first
day of the week! Cleopas told Yahshua exactly what it
was the third day from:
Luk 24:19 And He said to them, What things? And they
said to Him, The things concerning Yahshua the
Nazarene, who was a man, a prophet mighty in deed and
word before Elohim and all the people;
Luk 24:20 and how the chief priests and our rulers

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delivered Him to the judgment of death, and

crucified Him.
So right out of Scripture we see that it was the crucifixion
that was 3 days back from that Sunday afternoon, when
Yahshua met these two disciples. You can still count 3
days and 3 nights from Thursday afternoon to early
Sunday morning, while still dark, when the resurrection
would have happened. As a matter of fact, every
historical record does show that Yahshua was resurrected
after sunset Saturday evening right before dawn on the
first day of the week and not before. As a matter of fact,
this was what the Quartodecimen controversy in the early
second century was all about; whether to keep Passover
on the 14th of Aviv, according to Scripture, or to keep it
according to the Catholic Easter on the first day of the
week, due to the resurrection being Saturday evening on
the night portion of the feast of Firstfruits, on the
beginning of the first of the week. Yahshua was the
wavesheaf and would have had to be resurrected on the
Day of Firstfruits, which was the first day of the week
during Passover week.
Yahshua was the Passover lamb (1Cor 5:7) and the Holy
Days are only there as markers and shadows of His great
redemptive work that He is doing with mankind. We
celebrate these days each year as a memorial to Him and
in commemoration of the redemptive work that He has
accomplished, and will continue to accomplish, in His
disciples until He returns.
So since these days are benchmarks to that redemptive
work, it only stands to reason that He would have, and
will, literally, fulfill the exact meaning of each Holy Day.
As the true Passover lamb of Yahweh, it is inconceivable

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that He could die on any other day than the actual

Passover (Aviv 14).
In like matter, the Feast of Firstfruits, which is also called
the Feast of the Resurrection, and fully pictures Him as
the true wave-sheaf of Yahweh, and the first of the
firstfruits, could be the only day He would be resurrected,
as that was the purpose of the day itself. (Please read our
article on Yahshua and the Wavesheaf)
1Co 15:20 But now Messiah has been raised from
the dead; He became the first-fruit of those having
fallen asleep.
1Co 15:21 For since death is through man, also
through a Man is a resurrection of the dead;
1Co 15:22 for as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah
all will be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But each in his own order: Messiah, the
firstfruit; afterward those of Messiah at His coming.
So if He was the living wave-sheaf and the actual firstfruit
of the resurrection, then it only stands to reason He
would be resurrected on the day that represents that.
The way that was used to get the firstfruit omer ready
was to beat the sheaf. Each person had to cut his own
sheaf, as each one of us needs to have the wave sheaf
(a type of Messiahs sacrifice for our sins) accepted by
Yahweh, and the people could not bring the offering
themselves, only the priest (type of Yahshua) could bring
the sacrifice on behalf of the people and then, wave the
sheaf up to heaven.
Also, the beating of the sheaf by each person represents
the beating that Yahshua had to take for each one of our
sins to be forgiven and that each of us was responsible
for His suffering and death. Then, on Shavuot, the wave65

sheave was ground into flour and made into two leavened
loaves, one for the house of Ephraim, and one for the
House of Judah. Since the loaves represented people,
they were leavened, as only Yahshua, the true wavesheaf was without sin.
You will notice that the wave-sheaf was to be lifted up
and waved toward heaven, as a symbol of something
actually being transferred to heaven, to be presented and
accepted by the One who sits on the throne of the
universe.
When you understand the true meaning behind the barley
and wave-sheaf ceremony, it is crystal clear that the
wave sheaf could not be issued on behalf of one or two
fields, or even one area, of only one tribe, because He is
the wave-sheaf of all 12 tribes of Israel.
Joh 20:16-17 Yahshua said to her, Mariam! Turning
around, she said to Him, Rabboni! (that is to say,
My Great One). Yahshua said to her, Do not touch
Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father. But
go to My brothers and say to them, I am ascending
to My Father and your Father, and My Elohim, and
your Elohim.
These scriptures clearly show that the whole wave-sheaf
ceremony was only instituted as a fore-shadow of the
perfect one to come, as the perfect offering to Yahweh, as
the forgiveness of our sins, and by His sacrifice being
perfect and accepted, then at the resurrection, so will we
be accepted into the family of Yahweh, and accepted as
His brethren.
Heb 2:11 For both the One sanctifying and the ones
being sanctified are all of one nature; for which
cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
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Also, if Yahshua was crucified on the 14th day of Aviv on

Thursday, then that would mean that the day traditionally
called palm Sunday where Yahshua triumphantly entered
Jerusalem would also have been the 10th day of Aviv, the
very day that the Passover lamb was set apart and
chosen to be the Passover sacrifice (Ex 12:3-6).
It is most striking that as He entered Jerusalem the
people shouted hosanna, blessed is the one coming in
the name of Yahweh. The word hosanna is in command
form and literally means SAVE NOW! As the lamb was
being set apart for the Passover ceremony, the true lamb
of YHWH was being selected for the true Passover and
sacrifice of Himself for the penalty of the sins of His
people.
The crucifixion took place on Thursday afternoon (day 5)
and starting at sunset Thursday (beginning of day 6) was
the first Holy Day of Unleavened Bread and then, the
weekly Sabbath would have followed the next day. Look
at the following scripture in John 19:31 compared to
Mathew 28:1 to prove that there were two Sabbath Days
between the crucifixion and the resurrection; one being a
Holy Day Sabbath and one the weekly Sabbath.
Joh 19:31a The Jews therefore, because it was the
Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the
stake upon the Sabbath (for the day of that Sabbath
was a Holy Day)
Mat 28:1 Now after the Sabbaths (plural), at the
dawning into the first of the Sabbaths Mariam of
Magdalene and the other Mariam came to look upon the
grave.
The first Sabbath mentioned in John 19:31 was the High
day or Holy Day of Unleavened Bread, and then in
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Mathew 28 in the original manuscripts it says clearly that

there was a second Sabbath, which would have been the
weekly Sabbath. Unmistakably, there were 2 Sabbaths,
which totally rejects the Friday crucifixion and Sunday
resurrection, but also nowhere does it state that there is
a mysterious day in between these two Sabbaths. The
crucifixion clearly fell on Thursday, the Holy Day of
Unleavened Bread on Friday and the weekly Sabbath on
Saturday, and as it was dawning into what Scripture calls
the first of the Sabbaths, this is clearly the Feast of First
Fruits which started the 7 Sabbath count to Shavuot,
which is why it is referred to as the first of the Sabbaths,
or better yet, the first of the Sabbath count to Shavuot.
The fact that it is clearly shown about the importance of
Yahshua being resurrected on this Feast of First Fruits is
because He is the first of the first fruits, and the
fulfillment of the wave sheaf ceremony, which would tell
us that whenever He was resurrected, it would have to be
after sunset Saturday on the day of first fruits, which His
resurrection represents.
Now look at the next verse at what happened exactly at
this time that Mariam Magdalene was coming to the tomb
while it was still dark just before sunrise on the first day
of the week.
Mat 28:2 And, behold! A great earthquake occurred!
For descending from Heaven and coming near, a cherub
of YAHWEH rolled away the stone from the door and was
sitting on it.
Compare this scripture to what happened right before
Yahshua died.
Mat 27:50 And crying again with a loud voice, Yahshua
released His spirit.
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Mat 27:51 And, behold! The veil of the sanctuary was

torn into two from above as far as below. And the earth
quaked, and the rocks were sheared!
So we see a great earthquake occurring right after His
death and also right after His resurrection. This clearly
puts the resurrection early morning on Yom Rishon (the
first day of the week) during the latter part of the night,
while it was still dark before sunrise that morning.
With this fact in mind, lets look at another scripture that
will prove that this can only put the crucifixion on a
Thursday or day five of the 7 day weekly cycle.
Remember after Yahshua died the Pharisees asked Pilate
for a guard at the tomb because they knew Yahshua had
prophesied that He would rise up on the third day. Lets
look at what happened then.
Mat 27:64 Therefore, command that the grave be
secured until the third day, that His disciples may not
come by night and steal Him away, and may say to the
people, He is raised from the dead. And the last deception
will be worse than the first.
Mat 27:65 And Pilate said to them, You have the
guards. Go and take precautions as you know.
Mat 27:66 And they departed and took precautions by
the grave and set a seal upon that stone together
with the guards.
So it was commanded that a guard would be placed at
the tomb of Yahshua UNTIL the third day from His
crucifixion according to Scripture. And was the guard still
present when the great earthquake happened right after
His resurrection?
Mat 28:11 And they, having gone, behold, some of the
guard coming into the city reported to the chief priests all
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things that occurred.

Mat 28:12 And being assembled with the elders, and
taking counsel, they gave enough silver to the soldiers,
Mat 28:13 saying, Say that his disciples came and stole
him by night, while we slept.
Mat 28:14 And if this is heard by the governor, we will
persuade him and he will not make trouble for you.
Mat 28:15 And taking the silver, they did as they were
instructed. And this report was spread by the Jews until
today.
Most undoubtedly, the guards were there when the great
earthquake happened right after Yahshuas resurrection,
so it stands to reason since they were only stationed
UNTIL the third day that Yahshua had to rise within three
days of early morning while it was still dark on the first
day of the week, which can only put the crucifixion on
Thursday afternoon, or day 5 of the weekly cycle.
In looking at the above biblical timeframe let us not
forget the scripture in Luke 24:21 where the two disciples
meet Yahshua in the afternoon of the first day of the
week just hours after His resurrection and clearly tell Him
that day is the third day since the crucifixion.
Luk 24:21b But then with all these things, this
third day comes today since these things happened.
So again most dogmatically from Scripture we can see
counting back three days from Sunday afternoon (the
first day of the week) can only bring you to a Thursday
(day 5) crucifixion.
However, if He was placed in the tomb before sunset as
Scripture states (Luk 23:51-55) and then, He was
resurrected Saturday evening but before Sunday
morning, as Scripture states when Mariam came to the
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tomb while it was still dark, and if He died on a

Wednesday as some falsely believe, then He actually
would have been in the tomb a fourth day, as from
Wednesday afternoon before sunset to Saturday night or
early Sunday morning would have been into the fourth
day, which would not fit Scripture as we have seen that it
clearly stated He would rise ON the third day Not after
it, as Ps 16:10-11 has shown; He had to be resurrected
before the 4th day for His physical body not to be
corrupted.
That is the reason that some churches have tried to say
that Yahshua was resurrected late Sabbath afternoon, to
fit the three days timeframe, however, it just does not fit
Scripture, as that would not have Yahshua being
resurrected on the Feast of Firstfruits, as Scripture plainly
shows, He was the wave sheaf; and again starting from
Sunday afternoon (the first day of the week) when
Yahshua met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus
and counting back three days, no matter how you count it
will not bring you to Wednesday afternoon. Counting back
one day from Sunday, will bring you to Saturday,
counting back two days from Sunday will bring you to
Friday and counting back three days from Sunday will
bring you to Thursday.
In addition, if He died on a Wednesday and was
resurrected Saturday evening, then that would have Him
being resurrected on the 4th day, not on the third day as
Scripture states. As we have seen from Scripture there
was a great earthquake directly after His death on
Thursday afternoon, and another great earthquake
directly after His resurrection early morning while still
dark the first day of the week.

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Let me also say that I fully believe that Yahshua fulfilled

His promise to be 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb (Math
12:38-40), but let me also say that in the Hebrew
language NO WHERE does it state that time frame has to
be exactly 72 hours. It is not being honest with the
Scriptures to say that Jonah, according to Scripture, was
exactly 72 hours in the fishs belly.
If you look up the word day in Hebrew which is Yom it
can refer to the whole 24 hour period from one sunset to
another, it can refer to just the daylight portion of a day,
which will vary according to the time of year, it can refer
to a portion of a day and it could also refer to an
extended time period such as the Day of Yahweh. This
is not subjective but simply the biblical meaning of the
word Yom. It is similar in English, as if you stated that
Don was in Miami for a day, no one would take it to mean
that I stayed in Miami exactly 24 hours. Look at the
following scripture to prove this point.
Deu 21:22 And if a man has committed a sin worthy of
death, and he is executed, and you hang him on a tree,
Deu 21:23a his body shall not remain all night on the
tree; but surely, you shall bury him the same day.
For he that is hanged is a reproach to Elohim.
According to the Torah, a person crucified around 3:00pm
must be taken down and buried THE SAME DAY! The
day he dies is inclusive in the count of his death.
This is exactly what happened to Yahshua. He was hung
on a tree from 12:00 noon to between 2:00 and 3:00pm.
Yet Deuteronomy clearly states that the day of the person
being crucified is inclusive of being day one of the count
of his death. People who use a Wednesday crucifixion
never take this into account and start their count from
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sunset Wednesday missing a whole daylight portion

according to the reckoning of time in Scripture. If
someone died at 2:00pm Saturday afternoon, would you
say he died on the Sabbath or go to the next sunset and
say he died Sunday? The day of death is clearly reckoned
as day one.
So from the daylight portion of the 5th day of the week,
which the Romans named Thursday, to the night portion
of the first day of the week, which the Romans called
Saturday evening is 3 days and 3 nights. Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday are 3 days and Thursday night,
Friday night, and Saturday night are 3 nights.
Some who believe in a Wednesday crucifixion try to
purport that the Holy Day was on Thursday and that there
is a mysterious non mentioned day between the Holy Day
and the weekly Sabbath. They use the following scripture
in Luke 23, to try to prove their point and say that there
is a two day window between verses 55 and 56, but lets
look at the scripture and see if the Bible really is coming
to the conclusion that is being proposed.
Luk 23:53 And taking it down, he wrapped it in
linen, and placed it in a quarried tomb, where no
one was ever yet laid.
Luk 23:54 And it was Preparation Day, and a
Sabbath was coming on.
Luk 23:55 And having followed, also the women
who were accompanying Him out of Galilee,
watched the tomb, and how His body was placed.
Luk 23:56 And returning, they prepared spices and
ointment. And indeed they rested on the Sabbath,
according to the commandment.

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If we just read the scripture without adding anything into

it, NOWHERE would it even remotely hint that there is a
2 day time difference somewhere between verses 53-54
and 55-56. And if I believe that proposed theory, that this
Sabbath mentioned in Luke 56 was the weekly Sabbath,
then I would have to believe as Christianity teaches of a
Friday crucifixion, because clearly this Sabbath, which
was the Holy Day (John 19:31) happened directly after
the crucifixion, and there is not any hint of a 2 day time
period between verses 53-54 and 55-56. Yahshua died
between 2:00 and 3:00pm.
The women watched where His body was laid and
returned to their home and prepared spices, before the
Holy Day began at sunset Thursday, and then rested on
the Holy day Friday and the weekly Sabbath on Friday
sunset to Saturday sunset. Then, Saturday evening after
sunset, when the Sabbath was over and the first day of
the week had begun, they purchased and prepared the
rest of the burial spices and went early morning while it
was still dark to the tomb where Yahshua had just been
resurrected.
If Yahshua died on a Wednesday and the Holy Day was
Thursday, then the women would have surely returned
Friday morning to the tomb and would not have waited
until Sunday morning. So anxious were they to get to the
Tomb that they actually arrived so early on the first day
of the week, that it was still dark.
It is inconceivable that if there was a day between the
Holy Day on Thursday and the weekly Sabbath on
Saturday that Mariam would not have gone to the tomb
on that interim day. In Jewish culture burying and caring
for the dead is something that is done immediately, and if

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at all possible the very same day the person died as we

have seen from Deut 21:23.
The only reason that Mariam could not anoint the body
directly after the crucifixion was that she didnt have
either enough spices or enough time to do it. Luk 23:56
shows that she did have some spices and started to
prepare before the Holy Day, directly after the crucifixion,
but had to wait until both the Holy Day was over and the
weekly Sabbath before she could purchase the rest of the
spices and go to the tomb early Sunday morning while
still dark.
Joh 20:1 But on the first of the Sabbaths (The seven
week count to Shavuot), Mariam Magdalene came early to
the tomb, darkness yet being on it. And she saw the
stone had been removed from the tomb.
Mar 16:1 And the Sabbath passing, Mary Magdalene and
Mary the mother of James and Salome, bought spices, so
that coming they might anoint Him.
Mar 16:2 And very early on the first of the week,
the sun having risen, they came upon the tomb.
The fact that she even went to the tomb while it was still
dark proves that she wanted to get there as soon as
possible, so if there was a day (Friday) between the two
Sabbaths, then certainly she would have went on Friday
to the tomb, which is actually more proof that there was
no mysterious day in between the 2 Sabbaths.
The biblical fact is that the last Passover (supper)
happened on Wednesday evening and Yahshua was
crucified on Thursday afternoon and sunset Thursday
started the Holy Day of Unleavened Bread and sunset
Friday started the weekly Sabbath.
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Then, after the Sabbath was over (Saturday evening after

sunset) Mariam bought spices as Mark 16:1 tells us and
prepared them and came to the tomb to see Yahshuas
body while it was still dark early Sunday morning on the
first day of the week, but He was already resurrected a
short time before that right before the great earthquake
that is mentioned in Math 28:2 before sunrise of the first
day of the week, which was also the beginning of the
Feast of Firstfruits or Resurrection Day.
Now the next question arises could she have bought
spices Saturday evening? If you look in the Zonderman
Study Bible you will clearly see in the study note for Mark
16:1, it shows that markets would have been open
Saturday evening, after the Sabbath would have ended,
and it notes that this was indeed Saturday evening that
this buying of burial spices took place by Mariam.
Why would the New Testament even mention this fact?
Again, you have to look at the set apart day this
happened on, the Feast of Firstfruits. As the Pharisees
were preparing their wave sheaf for the next morning by
binding it and beating it and putting it through the fire, as
they did with Yahshua the true wave sheaf; Mariam, one
of His most beloved disciples, was preparing for the wave
sheaf by buying ointments and frankincense and sweet
smelling fragrances for the perfect true wave sheaf
ceremony. It shows the complete dichotomy between
those who believe and those who didnt. The Pharisees
were beating the wavesheaf omer, as Mariam was buying
perfume to anoint the wavesheaf omer.
Also, look at the following scripture in Amos to again
prove that buying and selling went on in the evening after
the Sabbath ended.

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Amo 8:5 saying, When will the new moon have

passed, so that we may buy grain? Or the Sabbath,
so that we may open the wheat, making smaller the
ephah, and making greater the shekel, and to falsify
the deceitful balances,
In these days the evil merchants were counting down the
minutes to open their sacks (many lived right at their
store) to be able to cheat the people for another week. In
context, showing the greed of the merchants, it would
make no sense if they were waiting another 12 full hours
after the Sabbath to sell the next day. In the Hebrew
mindset it is clearly showing they were opening the sacks
as the sun was setting and a new day was starting.
Also, if you look up the word for Sabbath in Mark 16:1, it
is the word in the Hebrew and Aramaic Shabbat which is
the weekly Sabbath, not Sabaton, which would be the
Holy Day Sabbath. In the Greek, the word is the same,
but in the Aramaic and Hebrew, it is conclusive, so with
that said, to develop a whole 2 days between verses one
and two that does not exist, is just not being honest with
the scripture.
Did you ever wonder why the Feast of Firstfruits is a not a
Holy Day? After understanding the fulfillment of the wave
sheaf as I explained above, it is simply for the reason that
if it were a Holy Day, then Mariam could not have bought
the spices Saturday evening and went to anoint Him
Sunday morning as the wave sheaf offering, this again
should show the correct time sequence. Look at Math
28:1 in the original manuscript:
Mat 28:1 But after the Sabbaths, at the dawning into
the first of the Sabbaths, (This was the day of
firstfruits and the beginning of the 7 week count to
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Shavuot) Mary the Magdalene and the other Mary came

to gaze upon the grave.
This scripture clearly shows that there were 2 Sabbaths
between the crucifixion and resurrection, but again, never
mentions another day in between these two Sabbaths,
and clearly shows the importance of the resurrection
being on the first of the Sabbaths or day of first fruits,
and the first of the 7 week count of Sabbaths to Shavuot.
The day the wave sheaf as the first-fruit was offered up to
Yahweh and accepted by Him. Then, after the first-fruit
offering was accepted, only then could the rest of the
harvest ending at Shavuot also be accepted. Also, no new
grain could even be eaten until the wave-sheaf offering
was accepted by Yahweh on the Feast of Firstfruits or
Resurrection Day.
Lev 23:14 And you shall not eat bread, nor roasted
grain, nor fresh ears, until this same day, until you
have brought the offering of your Elohim; it is a
never ending statute throughout your generations
in all your dwellings.
1Co 15:23 But each in his own order: Messiah, the
firstfruit; afterward those of Messiah at His coming.
Rom 11:16 Now if the first-fruit is holy, so also the
lump. And if the root is holy, so also the branches.
Joh 20:16-17 Yahshua said to her, Mariam! Turning
around, she said to Him, Rabboni! (that is to say,
My Great One). Yahshua said to her, Do not touch
Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father. But
go to My brothers and say to them, I am ascending
to My Father and your Father, and My Elohim, and
your Elohim.
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So where do people come up with the reasoning that

Yahshua had to be crucified on a Wednesday? It is by
misinterpreting one minute scripture in the book of
Daniel.
Dan 9:27 And he shall confirm a covenant with the
many for one week. And in the midst of the week he
shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease.
Now, first of all, there is a reasonable debate as to
whether this scripture even refers to the Messiah at all. In
Hebrew grammar, the personal pronoun most usually
goes back to the last person mentioned and in this case
that would have been the anti-messiah of Daniel 9:26 and
not the Messiah at all. There are many people who
believe that this scripture talks about a 7 year agreement
that will come with the anti-messiah and the Arab nations
right before Yahshuas return.
Secondly, even if this scripture was talking about the
Messiah and not the anti-messiah, it is a 70 weeks of
years prophecy and the week mentioned in Daniel 9:27,
regardless of who it is referring to, is speaking about a
week of 7 years, not a literal week of 7 days, so nowhere
would it in any case be saying the Messiah had to die on a
Wednesday, but rather, if it was referring to the Messiah,
it would be saying that in the midst of His 7 year ministry,
He would cause the sacrifice to end by His death. This
happened in the third year of His ministry and would fall
within the guidelines of this Hebrew word for midst, which
simply means the middle part, but not exactly, directly, in
the middle. According to this Hebrew word, if this
scripture was referring to Yahshua, He would have
fulfilled it as long as He was cut off in either the 3rd ,4th,
or 5th year of His ministry, which He was.

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There is no other scripture that even remotely hints that

the Messiah had to die on a Wednesday. If we are honest
from Scripture, a Thursday crucifixion is much more
accurate. Also, if you simply go back and look at a new
moon calendar, you will find out that in 30 AD, the year
of crucifixion, that according to the new moon
conjunction, the 14th day of Aviv (Passover) fell on a
Thursday, with the Passover meal on Wednesday evening.
The 15th day of Aviv started sunset Thursday to sunset
Friday and the weekly Sabbath would have followed. Go
to any moon phase website to prove this for yourself.
In 30 AD, the year of crucifixion the Jewish Talmud
mentions 4 great miracles that happened starting right
after Yahshuas death for 40 full years until the
destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. Each night the great
menorah was lit and went out by itself. The great Hekel
doors of the temple that took 20 men to open or close
them opened on themselves for 40 full years after the
crucifixion starting on 30 AD. Also, the white and black lot
for the scapegoat on Yom Kippur came up black every
time from 30 AD to 70 AD, and the red string that the
High Priest would wear in the Holy of Holies and if the
sacrifice was accepted by Yahweh would turn white, never
turned white anymore from 30 AD to 70 AD.
If one is starting the new moon by visually sighting a
crescent moon, then looking at when the crescent was
sighted in 30 AD, you are back to a Friday crucifixion,
which simply is not possible according to Scripture.

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Chapter 6- What Year was the

Crucifixion?
First of all let me say that almost every credible scholar
believes in a 30 A.D. crucifixion, due to the almost
invincible evidence for that date. I can honestly say that
whenever I see a year being mentioned for any other
date than 30 A.D., it is almost always someone trying to
fit the crucifixion into some type of flawed theology. I will
list the reasons that will conclusively prove a 30 A.D.
date. I have yet to find any biblical or historical reference
for any other year.
1) In Eusebius history of the Church, he states that the
crucifixion happened in 30 A.D. He is by far the most
reliable church historian, at least as far as dates go.
There is a church historian in Jerusalem called Mar
Jacob who is a historian of early Church history for 50
years and has worked at the Israeli Bible Society for
many years. He is a scholar in both Greek, Latin
Aramaic and Hebrew and he states as well as all
scholars that Eusebius quote of 340 of the Edessa era
for the crucifixion can only mean 30 A.D. in our
modern calendar. He has other historical documents
proving a 30 A.D. crucifixion.
2) The Daniel prophecy of 70 weeks in Daniel nine starts
from the command to go out to rebuild Jerusalem. All
historians put this date at 457 B.C, which after the 62
and 7 weeks or 69 x 7 weeks or a total of 483 years
are mentioned in Daniel 7, you come up again with a
27 A.D. date to start the ministry of Yahshua
(Remember there is no zero year in the Gregorian
calendar). So there is no way of a 33-36 A.D. date for
Passover, there is NO biblical or historical proof for
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these dates. Yahshua fulfilled of the 70th week and

half is still to come before His return.
3) When Yahshua started His ministry it was autumn 27
A.D. We know this because 27 A.D. was a sabbatical
year from 27 A.D. on atonement to 28 A.D. also
ending on atonement. Yahshua mentions in the book
of John, not to say there are 4 months to harvest,
but look up the fields are already white to harvest.
Since it was a sabbatical year this is why the fields
were already ready to harvest, but they could not
harvest them until 4 months later. We also know 27
A.D. to be the year Yahshua started His ministry
because we know that Luke 3:21-23 tells us it was
the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, which reign started
in 12 A.D.
If you count the chronology from the gospel of John
you will see that His ministry was not 3 and years
but only 2 and years. Some have tried to fit a 3
1/2 year ministry into their doctrine on prophecy so
they basically made up an additional Passover that is
not in Scripture to come up with 4 Passovers instead
of 3. The first is in John 2 in 28 A.D., the second is in
John 6 in 29 A.D., and then, His death in 30 A.D.
Some try to conclude the Feast of Tabernacles in John
5 is another Passover, but how can that be when right
after John 5 there is a Passover directly in John 6.
Once we can clearly show a 27 A.D. ministry start
and record a 2 to 2 years ministry we clearly come
to 30 A.D. as the year of crucifixion.
4) The last and most compelling evidence for a 30 A.D.
crucifixion is that it is recorded in the Jewish Talmud
that 4 great miracles happened in the Temple in 30
A.D. right after Yahshuas death. One was that the
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menorah in the temple that was lit 24 hours a day,

seven days a week went out every night starting after
Passover in 30 A.D. until the destruction of the
temple in 70 A.D.
Also, the great Hekel doors that were 20 feet high
and took 20 men to close them, opened on their own
also for 40 years starting after Passover in 30AD,
until the destruction of the Temple in 70AD. In
addition, the lot on Yom Kippur which one was black
and one was white for the two goats, the black one
came up every year for 40 years also starting in 30
A.D. until 70 A.D. And the red string that the High
priest would put around his finger on Yom Kippur, and
if YHWH accepted the sacrifice it would turn white,
would never again turn white from 30 A.D. right after
Yahshua was crucified until 70 A.D. All this is
recorded in the Talmud by Jewish Rabbis who hated
Yahshua, but these miracles that started right after
Passover in 30 A.D. and continued until the
destruction of the temple, clearly prove the year of
crucifixion. There is an audio message on this subject
called How could the Rabbis Forget at
www.coyhwh.com in the audio section.
Also, in the Talmud in Shabbat 15A it states that the
Sanhedrin left the chamber of hewn stones in 30 A.D.
and moved to another location. This magnificent
chamber was the room used to try Yahshua and
condemn Him to death. That was the last case ever
tried in that chamber. The Talmud does not mention
it but most likely the great earthquake that happened
at Yahshuas death caused the destruction of this
room. It also showed that Yahweh no longer
recognized the authority of the Sanhedrin any longer.
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Below is a timeline of the ministry of Yahshua from

Scripture until His crucifixion on Thursday April 6th 30
A.D.
27 A.D. at Sukkot Public ministry starts. We know
this is the year because Luke 3:21-23 tells us it was
the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, which reign started in
12 A.D. His Baptism also takes place at this time Math 3:13-17 John 1:29-39
27 A.D. Winter Tempted by Satan in desert, probably
Mount of Temptation near Jericho Math 4:1-11
27-28 A.D. Winter Yahshua first miracle of changing
water to wine in Cana-John 2:1-11
28 A.D. Passover Follows miracle and Yahshua
cleansing temple of money changers - John 2:13-17,
After Passover Yahshuas first public reading in the
Beit Knesset in Nazareth, Luk 4:16-31
Yahshua calls first disciples, 4 fisherman Math 4:1822, Mark 1:16-20, and Luke 5:1-11 tells us that He
called these disciples from Genneseret or modern day
Ginosar.
Yahshua starts first preaching trip through the villages
of Galilee Math 4:23-25, Luke 4:42-44, there were
about 254 villages all around the Sea of Galilee at that
time.
Yahshua preaches the famous Sermon on the Mount
Math 5:1- 48.

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28 A.D. Summer events Yahshua speaks with

Nicodemus about being born again in Kingdom John
3:1-21.
Yahshua with the Samarian women at the well, talks
about dont say there is 4 months to the harvest look
at the fields are white already, only in a Sabbatical
year would the fields still be unharvested in the
summer. 27 A.D Yom Teruah in the fall until 28 A.D is
a sabbatical year. This also explains why people were
able to travel to see Yahshua preach since they were
not farming in the sabbatical year.
Yahshua heals a noblemans son John 4:46-54.
Yahshua calls 12 disciples Luke 6:12-15.
28 A.D. Sukkot Yahshua heals a crippled man near
the pools of Bethesda John 5:1-14 Yahshua calms
the storm on the Sea of Galilee Math 8:23-27, Mark
4:35-41
28-29 A.D. Winter Yahshua travels around Galilee
again Luke 8:1-3
Yahshua teaches all about the Kingdom Math 13:1-52,
Luke 8:4-18
Yahshua raises Jairus daughter from the dead Math
9:18-26, Luke 8:40-56
John the Baptist is killed by Herod Math 14:1-12, Luke
9:7-9
29 A.D. Passover and Spring Yahshua feeds the
5,000 Math 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17,
Joh 6:1-14
Yahshua walks on water Math 14:22-33, John 6:1621, Mark 6:45-52
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29 A.D. Summer Yahshua feeds the 4,000 Math

15:32-39, Mark 8:1-9
The transfiguration takes place traditionally it is
believed to be on Mount Tabor, but more likely it
happened on Mount Hermon, as it indicates it was a
large Mountain, Math 17:1-13, Mark 9:2-13
29 A.D. Yahshua attends Feast of Sukkot John 7:11-52
Yahshua heals a blind man from birth at feast John 9:141
30 A.D. Winter Yahshua raises Lazarus from the dead
John 11:1-44
30 A.D. Passover/Spring Yahshua begins His last
journey to Jerusalem for Passover Luke 17:11
Yahshua heals the blind on His way to Jericho Luke
18:35-43
Yahshua talks to Zaccheus in Jericho Luke 19:1-10
30 A.D. Passover week in Jerusalem Yahshua
enters the city on palm Sunday Math 21:1-11, Mark 11:110, John 12:12-19, Yahshua once again cleanses out the
money changers from the Temple Math 21:12-13
Yahshua teaches in the Temple Math 21:28, 23-:39, Luke
20:9:21 , Wednesday is the Passover/last supper Math
26:6-13, Mk 14:12-25, Luk 22:7:20
Yahshua taken by the Pharisees in the garden of
Gethsemane around midnight of Passover night, He is
taken to Annas first who is the father in law of Caiaphas
the high priest, and then He is taken to Caiaphas house
and scourged by the Sanhedrin police and put in holding
cell until morning. Early Thursday morning He is taken to
Pontus Pilate who sent Him to Herod and then back to
Pilate before being condemned to death. He is then
scourged by the Roman army and sent to be crucified.
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Math 26:36-75, 27:1-56, John 18:2- 19:30, Luke 22:4723:49, Mark 14:43- 15:41, Yahshuas burial: Math 27:5766, Mark 15:42-47, Luk 23:50-56, John 19:31-42
John 19:31 clearly shows the Sabbath that was coming
was the High Day Sabbath of the first day of Unleavened
Bread and NOT the weekly Sabbath. Yahshua was
crucified on a Thursday, which was the preparation day
for the Holy day Sabbath, which was the first Holy Day of
Passover, which was the next day on Friday. The people
rested on the Holy Day Friday and also on the weekly
Sabbath on Saturday, and Yahshua was resurrected on
the Feast of First Fruits on the first day of the week
during Passover week. Math 28:1-10, Luke 24:1-12, John
20:1-10.
Math 28 verse one clearly shows in the original
manuscripts that it was after the Sabbaths plural, two
Sabbaths the Holy Day Friday and the weekly Sabbath on
Saturday, it is impossible according to the New Testament
to come up with a Friday Crucifixion and a Sunday
resurrection. Math 12:38-40 clearly states that Yahshua
prophesied that He would be 3 days and 3 nights in the
grave and that was the sign that He was the Messiah.
From Friday afternoon it is impossible to come up with 3
days and 3 nights until Sunday morning. From Thursday
afternoon to early morning on the first day of the week is
the proper timing. Later that day on Sunday afternoon
(the first day of the week) Yahshua appears to two of His
disciples and it clearly states that, that day Sunday was
the third day since His crucifixion Luke 24:19-21. If
you count back 3 days from Sunday it will bring you to a
Thursday crucifixion.

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Chapter 7 - Which Day is the Passover?

Leviticus 23:5-6 states, In the first month, on the
fourteenth of the month, between the evenings is
the Passover to YAHWEH. And on the fifteenth day
of this month is the Feast of Unleavened to
YAHWEH; you shall eat unleavened things seven
days.
From this scripture it should be clear that the Passover
and days of Unleavened Bread are two different
ceremonies, or why would Yahweh separate them in
Leviticus 23? The Passover is on the 14th day of the first
month of the year (Aviv) between the evening of the 13th
and 14th, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on
the 15th day of the month. I believe much of the
confusion on the timing of Passover is because the Jewish
community keeps the Passover on the 15th day of Aviv,
the first day of Unleavened incorrectly, and some have
also incorrectly followed in their footsteps.
Their mistake is quite simple and explained in Alfred
Edersheims book called the Temple, Its Ministry and
Services. In the book Edersheim explains that there was
the actual Passover sacrifice that was killed between the
evenings of the 13th and the 14th of Aviv, but then there
was a second sacrifice called hagagah that was done the
following night that was a peace offering to Yahweh. This
was also called a Passover sacrifice as all sacrifices done
during the whole 8 days ceremonies were called Passover.
This is actually the sacrifice that Scripture calls the night
to be observed, not for the night of the actual Passover
and death angel passing but the next night when they left
Egypt and had a great celebration. We are told that we
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are to celebrate each year and commemorate the coming

out of Egypt on the fifteenth of Aviv.
Ex. 12:42 It is a night of celebration to YAHWEH,
for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This
night is a celebration for all the sons of Israel to
their generations.
This is not the night of the Passover, but the following
night. Many refer to this festive meal as the night to be
much observed. The reason the Jews keep Passover on
the 15th instead of the 14th is that they have combined
these two ceremonies into one.
Look at what the Encyclopedia Judaica says concerning
this combining of Passover and the 1st day of Unleavened
Bread: "The feast of Passover consists of two parts: The
Passover ceremony and the feast of Unleavened Bread.
Originally, both parts existed separately; but at the
beginning of the [Babylonian] exile they were combined,"
Vol. 13, p. 169. This is a significant statement. Later
Jewish practice clearly shows how they combined the two
observances into one on the 15th of Abib.
This is where much of the confusion comes in, as in
Second Temple times the priests in the temple combined
the two sacrifices of Passover and the second hagigah to
make one sacrifice late on the 14th of Aviv going into the
15th and Holy Day; although, as we will see with Yahshua
that some were still properly killing the lambs between
the evening of the 13th and 14th of Aviv.
Lets look at Deuteronomy 16 to confirm this point and
clear up a misconception.
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Deu 16:6 But at the place which He shall choose to

cause His name to dwell there (Jerusalem), you shall
sacrifice a Passover offering at evening, at the going of
the sun, at the time when you came out of Egypt.
From the above scripture if one read over it quickly he
might think that the actual Passover lamb was to be
sacrificed and eaten on the beginning of the 15th of Aviv,
as that was the night that Israel left Egypt. However, look
at the following scripture to prove the point that Deut
16:6 is not speaking about killing and eating the actual
Passover Lamb but is speaking about the second hagigah,
which was also a Passover sacrifice but NOT THE
Passover sacrifice.
Deu 16:2 And you shall sacrifice a Passover to YAHWEH
your Elohim of the flock, and of the herd, in the place
which He shall choose to cause His name to dwell there.
This scripture proves that this could not be the actual
Passover sacrifice but had to be the second hagigah or
night to be observed memorial as the true Passover can
ONLY come from the flock and NOT from the herd, but
the second hagigah could be from either.
Exo 12:3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying,
On the tenth of this month, they shall each take for
themselves an animal of the flock for a father's house,
a flock animal for a house.
Exo 12:4 And if the house is too small for a flock
animal, he and his neighbor next to his house shall take
according to the number of souls, each one according to
the mouth of his eating, you shall count concerning the
flock animal.
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Exo 12:5 A flock animal, a male without blemish, a

yearling, shall be to you. You shall take from the
sheep or from the goats.
Exo 12:6 And it shall be for you to keep until the
fourteenth day of this month. And all the assembly of
the congregation of Israel shall kill it between the
evenings.
Also, notice that you are to keep the animal UNTIL the
14th day, meaning you keep the animal up until, or when
the 13th is ending, and then, kill it between the evenings
of the 13th and 14th. They were then commanded to stay
in their homes until the break of day (Ex. 12:22) or in
Hebrew boker meaning until daybreak or morning.
Exo 12:22 And take a bunch of hyssop and dip in the
blood in the basin. And touch some of the blood in the
basin to the lintel and on the two doorposts. And you
shall not go out, anyone from the door of his house
until morning.
Then, on the daylight portion of the 14th, they were to
quickly gather their possessions and leave the city of
Goshen where they lived, and gather at Ramses, the
capital city of Egypt. Scripture tells us that the Israelites
left Ramses later on the night portion of the fifteenth day
of the first month.
Deut. 16:1b For in the month of Aviv, YAHWEH
your Elohim brought you out of Egypt by night.
Num. 33:3a And they pulled up stakes from
Ramses in the first month on the fifteenth day of
the first month.
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So very clearly, the actual Passover meal could have only

taken place at the beginning of the 14th of Aviv between
the evening of the 13th and 14th, as they were not able to
leave their houses until morning, and then, Scripture
states during the daylight portion of the 14th they pilfered
the Egyptians and gathered almost 2 million people and
animals from Goshen where they lived to Ramses, which
was about 7 miles away.
This obviously would have taken the whole daylight
portion of the 14th and then, they left Ramses at the
beginning of the 15th day of Aviv at night exactly as the
scriptures above state. This night now, the 15th of Aviv,
when they left Egypt was a night to be remembered
throughout their generations and was to be a night of
celebration, not the 14th night when the death angel was
passing and someone was dying in every home.
Ex. 12:42 It is a night of celebration to YAHWEH,
for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This
night is a celebration for all the sons of Israel to
their generations.
Exodus 12:8 tells us that we are to eat the Passover with
unleavened bread. Now if this were the fifteenth, it would
already be Unleavened Bread, there would be no reason
to even state this unless the Passover was to be eaten on
the 14th, the day before Unleavened Bread. Also,
everything Yahweh names, He does for a purpose. Every
name in Scripture including His own has a special
meaning.
The name Passover is named for the death angel passing
over the Israelites at midnight. Now there may be two
evenings to a day, the beginning and ending evening, but
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there is only one midnight. If the 14th day is Passover,

then the Passover meal was eaten early on the 14th, and
the death angel passed over at midnight on the 14th (Ex
12:29). Then, the Israelites went to Ramses on the
daylight portion of the 14th, and left Ramses the night of
the 15th, as Scripture states.
Now lets look at the New Testament and see if Yahshua
also kept the Passover meal early evening on the 14th of
Aviv according to Scripture. Lets look at the Good News
of Luke.
Luke 22:7 And the day of the Unleavened came,
on which the Passover must be slaughtered.
Which day was this? It was the day before Yahshua was
crucified, late afternoon on the 13th of Aviv going into the
14th of Aviv when He would keep the last Passover with
His disciples. Notice that scripture clearly states that this
was the afternoon that the lambs were to be killed, not
the next day when Yahshua would be crucified as some
wrongly assume. As a matter of fact the high priests were
at Yahshuas crucifixion proving that the lambs couldnt
have being killed at the same time. If Yahshua was being
crucified at the same time the lambs were killed it is
inconceivable that the chief priests would not be at the
temple helping in killing the lambs as there were
thousands of them to kill and it was the busiest and most
important day to the priests in that time.
Mat 27:41 And in the same way, the chief priests
with the scribes and elders, mocking, said,
Mat 27:42 He saved others; He is not able to save
Himself. If He is the King of Israel, let Him come down
now from the torture stake and we will believe Him.
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Then, after the Passover meal He went to the Garden of

Gethsemane and was arrested and the next day He was
crucified, during the daylight portion of the 14th, the day
before the Holy Day of Leviticus 23:7.
John 19:31 Then, since it was Preparation, that
the bodies not remain on the tree on the Sabbath,
for that Sabbath was a holy day.
Clearly this is late afternoon on the 14th when Yahshua
was killed right before sunset and the beginning of the
Holy Day that began on the 15th at sunset. This also
most dogmatically shows that Yahshua kept the Passover
early on the 14th, between the evenings of the 13th and
the 14th according to Scripture.
Let us go back to Luke, and look at what Yahshua
commanded His disciples at the beginning of the 14th of
Aviv, the night before He died.
Luk 22:8 And He sent Peter and John, saying,
Having gone, prepare for us the Passover, that we
may eat.
Luke 22:11 And you will say to the housemaster
of that house, Our Master says to you, Where is the
guest room where I may eat the Passover with My
disciples?
Luke 22:13 And having gone, they found as He
had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
Some have erroneously tried to say that the meal
Yahshua ate with His disciples was not Passover, yet
there are 14 New Testament references calling the meal
The Passover. The Apostle Paul also tells us that we
94

should observe the Passover at the same time that our

Master Yahshua sacrificed it.
1Cor. 11:23 For I received from the Master what I
also delivered to you, that the Master Yahshua in
the night in which He was betrayed took bread
1Cor. 11:24 and giving thanks, He broke and said, take,
eat, this is My body which is broken on behalf of you, this
do in remembrance of Me.
1Cor. 11:25 In the same way the cup also, after
supping, saying, this cup is the New Covenant in My
blood, each time you drink it, do this in remembrance
of Me.
1Cor. 11:26 For each time that you may eat this bread,
and drink this cup, you solemnly commemorate the death
of our Master, until His coming.
Clearly, Scripture shows us that Yahshua kept His last
Passover on the beginning of the 14th of Aviv, right after
the time the lambs were being killed (Lk. 22:7), then was
taken at midnight of the fourteen by the Pharisees in the
Garden of Gethsemane (same time the death angel
passed on original Passover) and died on the daylight
portion of the 14th still on the Passover, to show He truly
was the Passover lamb. The Jews, according to their own
tradition and not Scripture, were keeping Passover the
next day wrongly so, combining it with the night to be
much observed. (John 18:28)
Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are not one
and the same feast because Scripture gives many
different distinctions for each. We find that the
observance called Passover is on the 14th, and another
observance called the Feast of Unleavened Bread is on
the 15th. They clearly make up two observances on two
95

DIFFERENT days. In scripture, Passover is a separate

day that is immediately followed by a 7 day feast
constituting 8 days in total.
Similarly, the Feast of Tabernacles is a Feast for seven
days, followed by a separate day called the Last Great
Day on the eighth day also making it 8 days in total.
However, the first 8 day feast has the separated day in
the front (Passover) and the last feast Sukkot has the
separated day (Last Great Day) after it. Yahshua called
Himself the Alef and the Tav, the first and the last. These
Holy Days attest to that.
Look at also how the Torah states these two days very
distinctly. "In the FOURTEENTH day of the first month at
even [twilight,] is Yahweh's Passover. And on the
FIFTEENTH day of the same month is the Feast of
Unleavened Bread unto Yahweh: seven days you must eat
unleavened bread" (Lev. 23:5-6).
"And in the FOURTEENTH day of the first month is the
Passover of Yahweh. And in the FIFTEENTH day of this
month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be
eaten" (Num. 28:16-17).
Here are two different observances kept on two different
days. How much clearer can Yahweh be?
Also look at some clear contrasts between these two
distinct, separate, and special days of Yahweh. Yahweh
specifically commands in the Torah that NO STRANGER
shall eat of the Passover ("There shall no stranger [alien]
eat thereof," Ex. 12:43).
Here, though, the Feast of Unleavened Bread is decidedly
different. Unlike with the Passover, strangers are
commanded to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread:
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"Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your

houses: for whosoever eats that which is leavened, even
that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel,
WHETHER HE BE A STRANGER or born in the land" (Ex.
12:19).
Strangers are to be included in keeping Yahweh's
Sabbaths and Feast (see Ex.20:10, Lev. 16:29, Deut.
29). The fact of prohibiting non-covenant strangers to
partake of Passover sets Passover apart from the Feast.
Passover is a separate memorial kept a day before the
Feast of Unleavened Bread only by those who have
already entered covenant relationship.
Unlike a typical Feast with its joyful atmosphere and
fellowship, Passover was anything but a happy time,
(Exodus 12:1-14). It was kept by Israel SEPARATELY in
their homes, and was marked by death, sadness, and
consternation as the death angel "passed over" (hence
the name "Passover"). It is the same in the New
Testament; with every time we memorialize the Passover
symbols of the bread and wine, we somberly remember
the beating and suffering and death of Yahshua Messiah
(1 Cor 11:26).
However, the following night when the Holy Day of
Unleavened Bread begins on the beginning of the 15th of
Aviv, we commemorate a most joyful feast to Yahweh
and have a special festive environment, like no other time
of year (Ex 12:42). The contrast of these two events,
Passover on the 14th of Aviv and the Holy Day on the 15th
day could not be a stronger distinction.
Also, to be remembered is that Passover is a not a Holy
Day Sabbath and work could be done. It is actually the
preparation day for the first Holy Day of Unleavened
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Bread and a day that people would work taking the

leaven out of their home. Israel spent the daylight part of
the 14th (Passover day) spoiling the Egyptians of their
possessions (Ex. 12:36) and packing up and moving their
belongings, families, and cattle from Goshen to Ramses.
This involved a considerable amount of effort and work,
which would be a great violation if this were a high day
Sabbath. This alone should clearly show that the Passover
and the first Holy Day of Unleavened Bread could not be
the same day.
Joyfully gathering at Ramses as the preparation day
(Passover day) ended, Israel observed the first High Holy
Day of Unleavened Bread on the fifteenth. They cheerfully
left Egypt at night, (Numbers 33:3) with their families
and belongings having a great festive activity, much
contrasted to the previous night of Passover on the 14th,
which was a day of death and sorrow.
The Bible is most clear on this matter; you are to
separate the lamb on the 10th day of the month and
perform the Passover between the evening of the 13th and
14th of Aviv, and then celebrate the festive night to be
observed on the beginning of the Holy Day on the 15th of
Aviv. These are clearly two separate festivals on two
separate days.

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Chapter 8 - How to Count to Shavuot/

The Omer Offering
We are told to count 50 days to Shavuot (Pentecost)
starting with the day after the Sabbath during
Unleavened Bread. But which Sabbath do we start our
count from; the Holy Day of Aviv 15, or the weekly
Sabbath? A close look at Scripture will clear up the
debate!
Lev. 23:15 And you shall number to you from the
next day after the Sabbath, from the day you bring the
Sheaf of the Wave offering; they shall be seven complete
Sabbaths; to the next day after the seventh Sabbath; you
shall number 50 days.
This can be cleared up very easily if we look at the
original Hebrew. There is one Hebrew word for the weekly
Sabbath which is Strong's Concordance #7676 Shabbat.
There is another Hebrew word for a Holy Day Feast or
Sabbath. This is Strong's 7677 and is 'Shabbaton'. This
second word for a Holy Day Sabbath is also used in Lev.
23:24 for the Feast of Trumpets, and in Lev. 23:39 for
the Holy Day Sabbaths during the Feast of Tabernacles. It
is not used for the Day of Atonement because this is a
fast day and not a feast day; however it still is a Sabbath.
Interestingly enough for the Holy Days of Unleavened
Bread in Lev. 23:7-8, no word for Sabbath appears, so as
not to confuse the reader. It simply states that you are to
have a holy convocation. This would assure that we
should begin our count from the weekly Sabbath. But in
Lev. 23:15-16, that tells about when to start the
Pentecost count, the word for the weekly Sabbath is
clearly used, 7676 Shabbat. You are to count seven
perfect Sabbaths, Strongs 7676, which is the weekly
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Sabbath. This would have to refer to the weekly Sabbath

as there are not seven Holy Day Sabbaths (Strongs 7677
which is Shabbaton) between Unleavened Bread and
Pentecost.
Then, the day after the seventh weekly Sabbath, would
have to be on the first day of the week called Sunday
according to the Roman calendar. Notice the Hebrew
word for week, which is Strongs 7620 'Shabuwa' is never
used in Lev. 23:15-16; only the word for the weekly
Sabbath 7676. The day after the 7th Sabbath would have
to be a Sunday, the first day of the week!
One other point in the Shavuot count is that the word
used in Hebrew is Ha Shabbat, using the perfect article
Ha (meaning the in English) which denotes only THE
7th DAY SABBATH. This is conclusive proof that the
count to Shavuot according to Scripture is after the
weekly Sabbath and not the set apart first day of
Unleavened Bread as when the perfect article Ha is used
before the word Sabbath it can only refer to the weekly
Sabbath and no other day.
How did the modern Jews go wrong? In ancient times
during the days of Yahshua when the Sadducees
controlled the priesthood at the sanctuary of Yahweh,
they always calculated the start of the count to Shavuot
after the weekly Sabbath according to Scripture, and NOT
starting the count after the first day of Unleavened Bread
as the Rabbis incorrectly do today. Look at the following
quote from The New Bible Dictionary Second Edition:
The Sadducees celebrated the 50th day (inclusive
reckoning) from the first Sunday after Passover, taking
the Sabbath to be the weekly Sabbath. Their reckoning
regulated the public observance so long as the temple
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stood, and the church is therefore justified in

commemorating the first Christian Pentecost on a
Sunday.
The Pharisees however, interpreted the Sabbath to be
the first day of unleavened bread and their reckoning
became normative in Judaism after 70AD, so that in the
Jewish calendar Pentecost now falls on various days of
the week.
The word Pentecost means count 50. It is the only Holy
Day in Scripture that does not have a specific date
attached to it, because it will change from year to year
depending on the date you start the count. If you always
started the count the day after the Holy Day (Aviv 15),
Pentecost would always be on Sivan 6, the 6th day of the
third month Sivan. There would be no reason to count,
and Scripture would have listed this date as the yearly
Pentecost. But it didn't, because the day will vary
depending on which day of Unleavened Bread that the
first day of the week will fall. Sivan 6 is never mentioned
in Scripture. Early Israelites started their count the day
after the weekly Sabbath.
History shows the Priest coming to wave the firstfruit
omer before YHWH on Saturday evening of Passover
week. Since Yahshua was resurrected at this time (and
He is the firstfruit waved omer, the firstfruit to YHWH,
1Cor. 15:20) it was too obvious to 1st century Jews, that
Yahshua was the Messiah. So they changed the date to
Sivan 6 not to make it look so obvious. Firstfruits are holy
unto Yahweh. They would wave the first ripe grain of the
year. If this first waved omer was accepted, than all the
rest of the harvest of the year would be blessed. This is
exactly what Scripture tells us about Yahshua. He was the
first fruit (waved omer), and then, we can only be
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accepted by Yahweh after His sacrifice was received.

Leviticus 23:14 tells us that no new grain could be eaten
until the firstfruit waved omer was accepted, just as the
New Covenant could not begin until Yahshua was
accepted by His Father Yahweh as the firstfruit sacrifice.
Lev 23:14 And you shall not eat bread, nor roasted
grain, nor fresh ears, until this same day, until you
have brought the offering of your Elohim; it is a
never ending statute throughout your generations in all
your dwellings.
Rom 11:16 Now if the first-fruit is holy, so also the
lump. And if the root is holy, so also the branches.
1Co 15:20 But now Messiah has been raised from the
dead; He became the first-fruit of those having
fallen asleep.
1Co 15:21 For since through man came death, also
through a Man is a resurrection of the dead;
1Co 15:22 for as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all
will be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But each in his own order: Messiah, the
first-fruit; afterward those of Messiah at His
coming.
That is why in Jn. 20:17, Yahshua as the first fruit waved
omer, told Mary Magdalene not to touch him, as He had
not ascended to YHWH to be officially accepted yet as the
first fruit, and first born again from the dead.
Joh 20:16-17 Yahshua said to her, Mariam! Turning
around, she said to Him, Rabboni! (that is to say,
My Great One). Yahshua said to her, Do not touch
Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father. But
go to My brothers and say to them, I am ascending
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to My Father and your Father, and My Elohim, and

your Elohim.
These scriptures clearly show that the whole wave-sheaf
ceremony was only instituted as a fore-shadow of the
perfect one to come, as the perfect offering to Yahweh, as
the forgiveness of our sins, and by His sacrifice being
perfect and accepted, then at the resurrection, so will we
be accepted into the family of Yahweh, and accepted as
His brethren.
Yahshua was the perfect High Priest. This is why from His
resurrection, Saturday evening, which started the first
day of the week, we count 7 perfect Sabbaths, not weeks,
as we already showed the Hebrew word for week is not
used in Lev. 23:15-16. The counting of 7 Sabbaths of
seven days bringing us to 49 days shows Yahwehs
completeness with His plan of redemption and then on
the 50th day, it is representative of the Jubilee and return
of Messiah, and the completeness of the other first fruits
to also be given immortality. This also conclusively shows
why Yahshua had to be resurrected Saturday evening on
the feast of firstfruits and not on the Sabbath day.
The spiritual meaning of the counting of Shavuot both
disqualifies starting the count on the second day of
Unleavened Bread and also clearly rules out the false
lunar Sabbath theory, as it is impossible to come up with
any 50 day count going by a false, lunar Sabbath
calendar.
Scripture is very clear! You start your count after the
weekly Sabbath, Strong's 7676. Then, after 7 perfect
Sabbaths (7x7), the day after the 7th Sabbath can
only be a Sunday, the first day of the week! One
other New Testament proof is in John 20:1. In the original
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Greek it states that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb

on the first of the weeks (plural). This most undoubtedly
is a reference to the 7 week count to Shavuot (Pentecost)
showing Mary came to the tomb on the Feast of Firstfruits
and the beginning of the seven week count to Shavuot.
The problem is that believers are going to non-believers,
who have no understanding to what the wave-sheaf and
barley truly represent. When the barley became
harvestable in most of the land, then each person was to
take the first of what he cut and take it to Jerusalem, to
the priest, to be accepted by Yahweh, on the Feast of
Firstfruits during Unleavened Bread.
Then, the way that was used to get the omer ready was
to beat the sheaf. Each person had to cut his own sheaf,
as each one of us need to have the wave sheaf (a type of
Messiahs sacrifice for our sins) accepted by Yahweh, and
the people could not bring the offering themselves, only
the priest (type of Yahshua) could bring the sacrifice on
behalf of the people and then, wave the omer up to
heaven. Also, the beating of the sheaf by each person
represents the beating that Yahshua had to take, for each
one of our sins to be forgiven. Then, on Shavuot, the
wave-sheaf was ground into flour and made into two
leavened loaves, one for the house of Ephraim, and one
for the House of Judah. Since the loaves represented
people, they were leavened, as only Yahshua, the true
wave-sheaf was without sin.
You will notice that the omer was to be lifted up and
waved toward heaven, as a symbol of something actually
being transferred to heaven, to be presented and
accepted by the One who sits on the throne of the
universe. An omer is an actual measurement of grain and
not a sheaf.
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When you understand the true meaning behind the barley

and wave-sheaf ceremony, it is crystal clear that the
wave sheaf could not be issued on behalf of one or two
fields, or even one area, of only one tribe, because He is
the wave-sheaf of all 12 tribes of Israel.
So it stands to reason that in order to be Aviv that the
barley would have to be ready in the majority of the land
of Israel, a fact that the Karaites, being non-believers in
Yahshua as Messiah, would not understand. Also, since
the waved omer represented Yahshua as the first-fruit of
those born from the dead, then, it would have to be
completely mature, as Yahshua was not an immature or
imperfect sacrifice.
Heb 2:11 For both the One sanctifying and the ones
being sanctified are all of one nature; for which
cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Since the whole wave sheaf ceremony was a foreshadow
of Yahshua as Messiah, it is impossible that either the
wave-sheaf would come from only a small field or part of
Israel or that the barley would not be perfectly ripe and
mature as a perfect offering to Yahweh, which Yahshua
was. In biblical times barley had to be ripe in the Shefelah
area near Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley near Jericho and
also in the Galilee in the north.
Lets also look at Exodus the 16th Chapter to see about
the omer sacrifice
Exo 16:15 And the sons of Israel looked. And they said,
each one to his brother, What is that? For they did not
know what it was. And Moses said to them, that is the
bread which YAHWEH has given to you for food.
Exo 16:16 This is the thing which YAHWEH commanded.
Gather from it, each one according to the mouth of his
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eating; an omer for a head. By the number of your souls

you shall take for each man who is in your tent.
Exo 16:17 And so the sons of Israel did. And they
gathered; the one gathering much and the one gathering
little.
Exo 16:18 And they measured with an omer. And the
one gathering much did not have too much. And the one
gathering little did not have any need. Each one gathered
according to the mouth of his eating.
Exo 16:19 And Moses said to them, Do not let anyone
leave from it until morning.
It is quite interesting, that the manna that was collected
was an omer by each person. This connects the manna to
the omer sacrifice that we just referenced. Also, look at
the fact that the manna could not be left till morning, just
as the Passover could not be left till morning, as both of
these provisions supplied by Yahweh was to symbolize
Yahshua as the lamb of Yah and true provider of His
covenant children.
Now look at what Yahshua states about the manna in
John the 6th chapter.
Joh 6:29 Yahshua answered and said to them, This is
the work of Elohim, that you believe into Him whom that
One sent.
Joh 6:30 Then they said to Him, Then what miraculous
sign do You do that we may see and may believe You?
What do You work
Joh 6:31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness,
as it is written "He gave them bread out of Heaven to
eat." (Psa. 78:24)
Joh 6:32 Then Yahshua said to them, Truly, truly, I say
to you, Moses has not given you the bread out of
Heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread out
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of Heaven.
Joh 6:33 For His bread, that of Elohim, is He who has
come down from heaven and gives life to the world.
Joh 6:34 Then they said to Him, Master, always give us
this bread.
Joh 6:35 Yahshua said to them, I AM the Bread of
life; the one coming to Me will not at all hunger, and the
one believing into Me will not thirst, never!
Clearly, Yahshua was showing that He was the I Am
that rained the physical manna from heaven as He was
the living manna (bread) that was beaten to represent
the Passover matzah that true believers take each
Passover in acceptance of His sacrifice.
The children of Israel were a shadow of the true firstfruit
of Yahweh being Yahshua and through acceptance of Him
paying the penalty of our sins so we also can be accepted
by the Heavenly Father.
This is why the Feast of Firstfruits is so important as it not
only shows the resurrection of Yahshua but it also shows
the acceptance of Him as the true firstfruit and also our
acceptance by Yahweh through His sacrifice.
By calculating the 7 week count to Shavuot incorrectly
from the second day of Unleavened Bread you would
never have the Messiah being resurrected after 3 days
and 3 nights on the Feast of Firstfruits, which is also
called Resurrection Day. Clearly the count to Shavuot
starts on the day after the weekly Sabbath according to
Scripture and after 7 complete Sabbaths, the day after
the 7th Sabbath can only be the first day of the week or
Sunday according to the Roman calendar.

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Chapter 9 - The Lunar Sabbath Illusion

The very first thing that Yahshua warned His disciples to
be careful about in the end time was deception.
Math 24: 3 And as He was sitting on the Mount of
Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell
us, when will these things be?
Math 24:4 And, what is the sign of Your coming and of
the end of the age? And answering, Yahshua said to
them, see that no man deceives you.
Today it is easy to understand why He said this. Since the
age of the Internet you see deception absolutely
everywhere, but I dont think there is any greater
deception than in the false doctrine of the Lunar Sabbath.
I would like to conclusively show in this chapter clear cut
precise biblical reasons why it is impossible according to
Scripture for the Sabbath to rotate according to the moon
cycle.
First of all, lets define what the false Lunar Sabbath
doctrine is. The Lunar Sabbath is the belief that the 7th
day is NOT the Sabbath, which is commonly understood
by all today, including all Jews worldwide, to be Saturday
on the Roman calendar. The Lunar Sabbath observers
start the weekly cycle by the new moon and they change
the weekly cycle each month according to which day of
the week the new moon falls on. One month their
Sabbath may be on a Monday, the next month it may fall
on a Thursday. If the new moon this month is on a
Tuesday, then Wednesday would be day one and their
Sabbath that month would be on Tuesday. If the next
month the new moon occurred on a Thursday, then they
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would start their count from Friday and their Sabbath that
month would be on Thursday.
Also, because the Lunar Sabbath ignores the current
weekly cycle in use today, their Sabbath may fall on any
day of our modern week. It depends completely and
solely on the moon phases. One major problem that
Lunar Sabbath keepers face is the fact that the moon
cycle is a 29 or 30 day cycle and the weekly cycle is a 7
day cycle. Proof positive number one that it is impossible
to calculate the weekly cycle and the 7th day Sabbath by
the moon cycle is plain and simple because 29 or 30 is
NOT divisible by 7.
The moon moves through one complete cycle (new moon,
first quarter, full moon, last quarter, conjunction) in
approximately 29.5 days. Since we cannot have half a
day, this means that some lunar months will last 29 days,
but other lunar months will last 30 days. So what do
Lunar Sabbath keepers do on the 1st and 30th days of
each month?
This is where some may differ. Some keep them as an
extension of the Sabbath day on the 29th and will keep
the Sabbath for two or even 3 days straight. This
presents a problem though because there are scriptures
which show men working (Exodus 40) and traveling (Ezra
7:9) on the new moon day. Also, it is not commanded
anywhere that we must rest on any new moon day except
the new moon day of the 7th month, which is the Feast of
Trumpets.
Others simply call these nothing days and make believe
they dont exist to keep their month 28 days and divisible
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by seven. This is quite ridiculous as the sun rises and sets

every day and you cannot simply make 2 nothing days
every month to fit some heresy.
What this would also mean is that they don't truly get a
day of rest every seven days. They would have to wait for
up to nine days to get a day of rest for the extra days at
the end of each month that they are not counting. This
means a person could potentially work 8 days rather than
the 6 that Yahweh commanded, and rest on the 9th day
instead of the 7th day that Yahweh commanded.
Why this confusion; because these people do not
understand Hebrew nor even the concept of the Sabbath
day to begin with. In Hebrew every word goes back to a 2
or 3 letter root word and there are nouns, verbs, etc. that
all come from this same root and all have some kind of
meaning compared to the root. The word Sabbath comes
from the root shin, bet, tav, and in any form means
seven. The word for week, Shavua, and the word for
seven in Hebrew Sheva all come from the same root of
the meaning of seven.
So, however you calculate which day of the week the
Sabbath falls, once you believe it falls on that day it will
NOT rotate but would always be in a 7 day cycle on the
SAME day; that is the main problem why it is impossible
for the false doctrine of the lunar Sabbath to be correct,
because the moon cycle is a 29 or 30 day cycle each
month and the weekly cycle is a 7 day cycle each week.
Do the math, it just doesnt fit.
Lets go back to creation again and see what was the
pattern set down by Yahweh at creation. Like anything

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else that you want to solve, it is always prudent to go

back to the very beginning.
Yahweh set out certain patterns at creation and if you
look at the creation week you will see that each thing
created on the next day was essential for the survival of
the thing created on the previous day.
On day 3 the seeds were created and on day 4 the lights
(moon, sun, stars) were created. Without daylight and
night working together to give carbon dioxide and to take
it back, plants could not survive. Then, day five, the living
creatures were created and on day six mankind. If the
food was not created on day 3 and the night and day on
day four, life that was created on day five and six could
not survive. Everything was in perfect order. This also
clearly shows that there had to be 7 literal days of
creation and not simply time periods as some falsely
believe.
Also, according to the false Lunar Sabbath belief, the
Sabbath cycle changes monthly according to when the
new moon appears, but here on creation week, we clearly
see the moon, and sun and stars being created on day 4
and the Sabbath is still on day seven and not counted
seven days from the new moon that occurred on day 4.
This in itself should conclusively show that the Sabbath
was set down by creation and being made on the 7th day
of creation apart from the moon cycle that started on the
4th day.
Day seven of creation was the Sabbath day. This is very
clear and a pattern throughout Scripture. We never see
the Sabbath occurring in any other cycle but a 7 day
cycle.
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The lunar Sabbath belief tries to say that the sun, moon
and stars were created on day one, but that is not what
scriptures states.
Gen 1:15 And let them be for light sources in the
expanse of the heavens, to give light on the earth. And it
was so.
Gen 1:16 And Elohim made the two great light sources
the great light to rule the day, and the small light and the
stars to rule the night.
Gen 1:19 And there was evening, and there was
morning, day four.
Next they will ask then how was there light without the
sun and moon, but the bible is written in the circular, not
linear and Revelation 22:5, clearly shows that the true
light comes from Yahweh and not the celestial bodies and
that was the light at creation made by His presence but
the sun, moon and stars were not created until day 4.
Rev 22:5 And night will not be there; and they have no
need of a lamp or a light of the sun, because YAHWEH
Elohim will give them light. And they shall reign for ever
and ever.
Lets look at scripture to see the clear 7 day pattern set.
Ex 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (set
apart)
Ex 20:9 six days you shall labor and do all your
work
Ex 20:10 and the seventh day is a Sabbath to
YAHWEH your Elohim; you shall not do any work, you,
and your son, and your daughter, your male slave and
your slave-girl, and your livestock, and your stranger who
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is in your gates.
Ex 20:11 For in six days YAHWEH made the heavens
and the earth, the sea, and all which is in them, and He
rested on the seventh day; on account of this YAHWEH
blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.
Ex 23:12 You shall do your work six days, and on
the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and
your donkey may rest, and the son of your slave-girl and
your alien may be refreshed.
Ex 34:21 You may work six days, and on the
seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in
harvest you shall rest.
Ex 35:2 Work may be done six days and on the
seventh day it shall be holy to you, a Sabbath of
rest to YAHWEH; everyone doing work in it surely shall
die.
Friday, as we call it today is day six and Saturday as we
call it today is day 7. End of story! Clearly from these
scriptures there is not even a hint of the Sabbath being
three days long at the end of the month or having the last
days after the 4th Sabbath of the month as nothing days.
There is simply a consecutive 7 days cycle all throughout
Scripture, and in each and every case it clearly states
that 6 days you shall work and the 7th day is the Sabbath.
There is absolutely nothing that would make one think
that you must extend your Sabbath at the end of each
month or ignore days to cram a lunar calendar theory.
In the Bible, the Sabbath is called in the original Hebrew
language HShabbat. In Hebrew, whenever you have
the perfect article H which equals the in English, it is
clearly meaning one specific day and NOT a rotating day.
We will clearly prove this by the scripture below.

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Ex 16:22 And it came about on the sixth day, they

gathered double bread, two omers for one. And all the
leaders of the congregation came and reported to Moses.
Ex 16:23 And he said to them, That is what YAHWEH
said, Tomorrow is a rest, a holy Sabbath to YAHWEH.
What you will bake, bake. And boil what you will boil. And
lay up for yourselves all that is left over, to keep it until
the morning.
Ex 16:24 And they laid it up until the morning, as Moses
commanded. And it did not stink and no maggot was in it.
Ex 16:25 And Moses said, Eat it today, for today is a
Sabbath to YAHWEH. Today you will not find it in the
field.
Ex 16:26 You shall gather it six days, and on the
seventh day is a Sabbath; in it none shall be found.
Ex 16:29 Behold! Because YAHWEH has given the
Sabbath to you, therefore He is giving to you two
days of bread on the sixth day. Each one of you
remain in his place. Do not let anyone go out from his
place on the seventh day.
Ex 16:30 And the people rested on the seventh day.
Here we see the command to gather manna for 6 days
and the 7th day is H Shabbat or the Sabbath day. It is
again one specific day in the original Hebrew and cannot
be a rotating day each month. Also, which is most
interesting about this scripture is that the 6th day in
Hebrew is called H She she and it also uses the perfect
article The to refer to the gathering of manna on the 6th
day. So whatever day of the week you are going to
constitute as day six to gather your manna, it will always
stay on that seven day cycle and cannot change
according to the rules of the Hebrew grammar.

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In addition, when Yahweh is telling them to gather manna

for 6 days and on the 6th day (H She she) to gather for 2
days, He never mentions about gathering for 3 or 4 days
for the long Sabbath or no days at the end of the lunar
Sabbath month.
If one is logical, they must admit that it is inconceivable
that if the Israelites were using a Lunar Sabbath calendar,
which was not divisible by 7, and had 2 extra days after
the 4th Sabbath each month that Yahweh would not have
mentioned something about it in calculating the gathering
of the manna as they did gather it for almost 40 years.
Lunar Sabbath believers today can call these nothing days
but the fact of the matter is that the sun will still rise and
will also set and people still need to eat on these days.
Yahweh mentioned nothing about these extra days
because they clearly were not using a Lunar Sabbath.
If we look into antiquity whether it is the writings of
Josephus, or the Jewish Talmud or Mishnah, there is
absolutely zero evidence that would make someone
believe that the nation of Israel was using a rotating
weekly Sabbath according to the moon cycle. In addition,
we also have the Essene sect from the Dead Sea scrolls
which again mention nothing about using the lunar cycle
to calculate a different Sabbath day each month. As
mentioned, in the original Hebrew language you can only
calculate the Sabbath on a 7 day cycle that is repeated
week by week and the day of the week for the Sabbath
DOES NOT CHANGE!
This is why even today whether you look at the word for
Saturday in Italian which is Sabato, or Spanish which is
Sabado or Hebrew Shabbat, or other ancient languages

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you can actually see the word Sabbath in the name of the
week that is commonly known as Saturday.
Also, when you look at your count to Shavuot you must
count 50 days starting with the first day after the weekly
Sabbath during the days of Unleavened Bread.
Lev 23:15 And you shall number to you from the next
day after the Sabbath, from the day you bring in the
sheaf of the wave offering; they shall be seven
complete Sabbaths;
Lev 23:16 to the next day after the seventh
Sabbath, you shall number fifty days; and you shall
bring near a new food offering to YAHWEH;
If you are using a Lunar Sabbath calendar with 9 day
weeks at the end of each month you will never come up
with a 50 day count to Shavuot in a 7 complete Sabbath
count. Do the math, it is impossible and another clear
proof from Scripture that the Lunar Sabbath is not true
according to Scripture.
Exodus 31:12-19 tells us that Yahweh gave the 7th day
Sabbath as a sign for Him and His children forever. It is
the very sign from creation that sets the people of
Yahweh apart from the rest of the world and proves Him
to be the only true Elohim and Creator.
These people have given up the very sign that makes
them a family member of the family of Yahweh and they
have done so without even one clear cut scripture that
would even remotely make one think that you must count
your weekly count according to each new moon every
month.

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There is no evidence that Israel ever kept this irregular

weekly cycle and there is no proof that our brother Judah
ever kept this type of false calendar in antiquity. If
someone is going to change something so serious as the
weekly seven day Sabbath, one must have clear-cut
conclusive evidence from Scripture that this is so, and it
just isnt there.
Yahweh is very precise in Scripture from Creation; in six
days He made heaven and earth and all that is in them
and rested on THE SEVENTH DAY, and every scripture
in the Bible also confirms that we work six days and rest
on the seventh day without consideration of the moon
cycle.

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Chapter 10 - When Does the Day Begin?

Scripture says that Elohim called the light DAY, and the
darkness He called NIGHT. At creation the night or
darkness preceded the light or day, indicating that it
comes first in the creative order: "Gen 1:1 In the
beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth; Gen
1:2 and the earth being without form and empty, and
darkness on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of Elohim
moving gently on the face of the waters,".
Darkness was already present and therefore came first on
day one of creation. Darkness came first on each
succeeding day as well. Yahwehs Spirit moved in
darkness to create light. As a matter of fact darkness is
simply the absence of light, so it had to be first before
light was created.
The modern-day practice of designating midnight as the
close of the calendar day is not the biblical way of
determining when a day begins. In the Bible, sunset
marks the end of one day and the beginning of the next
day.
The word "evening" is from the Hebrew ereb (No. 6153 in
Strongs Exhaustive Concordance Hebrew Dictionary). It
means dusk and is translated variously as evening, dusk,
and night. It is apparent that days begin with darkness
from Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, and 31, where we read,
"the evening and the morning" were the first day, the
second day, etc.
The most significant proof is in Genesis 1, the very
creation of our days, when "evening and morning" made
up the day. There is nothing in the Bible that changes the
basic truth that days endand beginat sunset.
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So, the Bible Sabbath begins as the sun sinks into the
horizon and is no longer visible at sunset, ending the
sixth day (Friday) and marking the beginning of the
seventh day which is the Sabbath.
This particular phraseology is used of the first six days of
creation. As Yahweh created the world, He was also
creating time and its proper factors for determination.
Each period of 24-hours had an evening and a morning.
The hours of darkness, called evening, came first; the
hours of daylight, called morning, came second.
Yahweh began His work with darkness, which was upon
the face of the deep. And light came out of darkness. This
was the precedent that Yahweh set for time in Scripture.
In the beginning light came out of darkness as with a
biblical day, which starts in darkness at evening, as the
biblical month starts at darkness at conjunction.
Clearly, as we see from Genesis, though, is that a day is
not just the daylight portion, but is made up of a 24 hour
period of both darkness and light.
Gen 1:5 And Elohim called the light, Day. And He called
the darkness, Night. And there was evening, and there
was morning, day one.
Gen 1:8 And Elohim called the expanse, Heavens. And
there was evening, and there was morning, day
two.
Gen 1:13 And there was evening, and there was
morning, day three.
Also look at Leviticus 23:32:

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Lev 23:32 It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you shall

humble your souls in the ninth of the month at evening;
from evening until evening you shall keep your
Sabbath.
Let us look at what the New Testament says about the
beginning or ending of the day:
On the Sabbath in Mark 1:21 Yahshua taught in the
synagogue. When a man with an unclean spirit tried to
disrupt the gathering, Yahshua rebuked the spirit. Later,
Yahshua went to visit Simons mother-in-law and lifted
her up, healing her of the fever. Immediately she began
ministering unto them.
Verse 32 clearly tells us that when the Sabbath was over,
"at even when the sun did set," Yahshua went to work
curing all who were brought unto Him.
We see that the Pharisees were criticizing Yahshua for
healing on the Sabbath day and actually threatening
people that if they came to be healed on the Sabbath
they would be kicked out of the synagogue.
Matthew 12:10 And, behold, a man having a withered
hand was there. And they asked Him, saying, is it lawful
to heal on the Sabbaths, (That they might accuse Him).
After He healed the withered hand, the Jews planned to
destroy Him, verse 14.
So the people waited until sunset, when evening came
and the Sabbath ended and now that the new day started
they were coming to be healed, so not to be attacked by
the Pharisees for coming to be healed on the Sabbath
day. Clearly, we see from this scripture that the Sabbath
day ended at sunset!

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The account in Luke 4:40 describes the incident with

these words, "Now when the sun was sinking..." clearly
showing that the day began at sunset. One day had
ended and another had begun at the setting of the sun.
The following scriptures deal with the time at Yahshuas
death and show that sundown marked the new day.
Matthew 27:57And late afternoon having come,
Joseph took the body of Yahshua and laid it in the tomb.
This was just before the High Sabbath began. One day
was ending and the Sabbath was about to begin at
sunset, at the close of the day, when another day began.
Luke 23:54And the day was setting and the Sabbath
was approaching. They had to hurry to get the body
down and removed as the sun was going down and the
Holy Day Sabbath was about to begin.
Mark 15:42"And it becoming late afternoon already,
since it was the preparation, that is, the day before a
Sabbath..."
John 19:31Then, since it was Preparation, that the
bodies not remain on the tree on the Sabbath, for that
Sabbath was a holy day. The bodies should not remain
on the tree over the Sabbath; therefore, Yahshua was
taken off the tree and laid in the tomb before the [high]
Sabbath began at sunset.
The reason why some wrongly miscalculate the day to
begin at sunrise is that they only take one narrow
definition of the word Yome (which means day) in
Scripture. The definition is as follows.
Yome - From an unused root meaning to be hot; a day
(as the warm hours), whether literally (from sunrise to
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sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figuratively

(a space of time defined by an associated term)
If you look at the biblical definition you will see that in
Hebrew the word yome means the same as the word
day in English. In English if someone says day he can
mean the daylight portion of a day or the whole 24 hour
period. Also, such as in Scripture The Day of Yahweh
can mean a space of time defined by the associated term.
Look at some historical references to when a biblical day
begins.
The Jewish Encyclopedia (vol. 3, p. 50l), reveals that
the Jewish calendar reckons the days from evening to
evening. See Genesis 1:5, Exodus 12:18, Leviticus 23:32.
The following excerpt from Eerdman's Bible Dictionary
explains how the Israelites determined their day:
"The Israelites, who divided the year according to a lunar
calendar, considered the day to start in the evening and
end the following evening. Accordingly they celebrated
the Passover at sunset (Ex. 12:18 and Lev. 23:32; Neh.
13:19). To them a 24-hour day consisted of a night
followed by a day (evening and morning, Dan. 8:26; a
night and a day, 2 Cor. 11:25)," p. 266.
Comprehensive and reliable sources reveal that the
Hebrew week days as well as Feast days begin at sunset,
for example, under day, The New Schaff-Herzog
Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge states: "The civil day
was reckoned by the Hebrews from sunset to sunset, so
that the day began at that time both on ordinary
occasions and on Sabbaths and feasts."
Evidence is found for the sundown to sundown measuring
of a day in Leviticus 11:24-25, where anyone touching or
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carrying the carcass of any unclean creature would be

"unclean until the evening." A new day began at evening
(sundown) when the person would be considered clean.
To show when the person would be considered unclean,
note Leviticus 22:6-7, "The soul which has touched any
such shall be unclean until even...And when the sun is
down, he shall be clean..." Note carefully that the Bible
does not say a person shall be unclean until midnight or
until sunrise, as bible days change at sunset, not
midnight or sunrise.
Anyone touching an unclean thing would be considered
unclean until even, when the sun had set, which started a
new day. Then, he would be considered clean again. He
was not unclean until midnight or dawn, but until
sundown, when a new day began at the start of the
evening.
Deuteronomy 23:11 gives us two definite points of time:
"And it shall be, as evening is turning, he shall bathe with
water, and as the sun is going (down), he shall come into
the middle of the camp.."
Notice that the unclean man was to wash himself as
sundown approached in anticipation of the new day.
Then, after the sun had set he was free to return to the
camp, clean once more because the new day had arrived
with sunset.
Pay special attention Deuteronomy 23, beginning with
verse 10, where the rite of cleansing was for
"uncleanness that happens to him by night." Now if a new
day begins at sunrise, it would be perfectly acceptable for
the unclean man to return to camp at dawn. But Yahweh
said he was to wait: "But it shall be, when evening comes
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on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is
down, he shall come into the camp again," verse 11.
Judges 19:9 reads, "Behold, now the day draws toward
evening...the day grows to an end." Clearly, this teaches
that a day ends at the setting of the sun.
In Judges 14:12 Samson proposed a riddle at his wedding
feast that his enemies were to answer within the seven
days of the feast. In verse 18 the men gave him their
answer "on the seventh day before the sun went down."
Clearly the seven days ended at that seventh day at
sundown. They solved the riddle just before the seven
days had fully expiredat sunset.
Joshua hung the King of Ai "And he hanged the king of Ai
on the tree until evening time. And at sundown Joshua
commanded, and they took his dead body down from the
tree, Joshua 8:28-29.
Deuteronomy 21:23 does not allow a dead body to
remain hanging overnight, but is to be taken down that
day before the sun sets lest the land be defiled. A new
day began at sundown, and the bodies were to be
removed by that time.
In Joshua 10:26 we learn that Joshua had the dead kings
hung on five trees until evening. Verse 27 says that at
the going down of the sun Joshua commanded that they
be taken down from the trees and thrown into a cave.
Nehemiah 13:19 tells us, "And it happened, when the
gates of Jerusalem began to be shaded as the sun was
setting, just before the Sabbath began, I commanded
that the gates should be shut, and commanded that they
should not be opened until after the Sabbath. Notice that
it "began to be dark before the Sabbath." The
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Sabbath had not yet arrived, but late afternoon shadows

covered the streets and Nehemiah commanded the gates
to be shut before the Sabbath started, which was before
it was completely dark.
When mourning for the death of general Abner, king
David refused food, for he had made an oath not to eat
until the setting sun ended the day, 2 Samuel 3:35.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:26, "Let not the sun go down
upon your wrath." We are not to carry a grudge or let our
anger carry over to another day. He did not tell us, "Dont
let the sun arise upon your wrath." He referred to
sundown to start a day not sunrise.
Yahshua was taken down from the tree of crucifixion
before the sun set to comply with Yahwehs law. His body
was not to remain on the tree beyond sunset, the
beginning of the new day.
His body shall not remain all night on the tree; but
surely, you shall bury him the same day. For he that is
hanged is a reproach to Elohim. And you shall not defile
your land which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving to you as
an inheritance.." (Deut. 21:23)
Passover was to be at a precise time. Luke 22:14 reveals,
"And when the hour was come..." What hour was that?
The Savior was observing Passover at the beginning of
the fourteenth, just after sunset, but the Jews kept it a
day later. Notice the actual wording of Exodus 12:6 in
dealing with the lamb: " And it shall be for you to keep
until the fourteenth day of this month. And all the
assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it between
the evenings."

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The lamb was to be kept until the fourteenth, which

means to kill it after the thirteenth ends and not after the
fourteenth ends. The exact hour is perfectly plain that the
time changes at sunset.
Passover is held as soon as the sun sets ending the
thirteenth and as the fourteenth begins.
Clearly, the meal Yahshua kept with His disciples was the
Passover as it is referenced 14 times as the Passover, so
if the next morning was a new day, then it would have
been the Holy Day of the 15th, and not still the 14th day
and the daylight portion of the Passover, but it was not
the Holy Day of the 15th but still the 14th as Yahshua had
to die on the Passover day and the meal He ate the night
before was indeed the Passover. This again shows the day
began at evening and not sunrise.
Lets look at how King David divided the day:
Psa 55:17 Evening and morning and at noon I will
complain and cry aloud; and He will hear my voice.
And also the Apostle Paul tells of "my prayers night and
day," 2 Timothy 1:3. In 2 Corinthians 11:25 he explains,
"A night and a day I have been in the deep."
Also, lets look at Acts 27:27.
Act 27:27 And when the fourteenth night came, we
being carried about in the Adriatic Sea, toward the middle
of the night the sailors supposed us to come near some
country.
Act 27:33 And while the day was drawing on, Paul
advised them all to take food, saying, Today is the
fourteenth day you continued waiting without food, not
having taken anything.
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These scriptures conclusively show that the 14th night had

come first, since Paul did not eat in the boat, and then,
verse 33 shows after this that the 14th day came, after
the 14th night.
The conclusion is clear. From a variety of biblical
perspectives, the scriptural day begins at sundown.
We can know the Sabbath we are currently keeping is the
same as Yahweh taught Adam, Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. The Savior would certainly know which day was
the Sabbath, for He was Master of it, So then the Son of
Man is Master of the Sabbath also." (Mark 2:28)
"And it shall come to pass, [that] from one new
moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another,
shall all flesh come to worship before me, says
YAHWEH." (Isa. 66:23)
The biblical day and the biblical Sabbath is to be kept
from sunset to sunset.
Lev 23:32 It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you shall
humble your souls in the ninth of the month at evening;
from evening until evening you shall keep your
Sabbath.

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Chapter 11: Conclusion

I believe that I have given a very conclusive, thorough,
biblical explanation for the true Biblical Calendar. I also
believe that with the evidence provided that one must
admit that when wanting to discover the true Biblical
Calendar that you must take into consideration both the
signs in the heavens laid out in Genesis 1:14, with the
cyclical pattern of the agricultural cycle in Israel that
confirms the heavenly signs each turning of the season
and year.
It is an undeniable fact that the sun, moon and stars were
given for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years.
In the end time it is prophesied that these heavenly
bodies will be signs or markers for prophetic events to
come.
Joe 2:30 And I will give signs in the heavens and in
the earth: blood, and fire, and columns of smoke.
Joe 2:31 The sun shall be turned to darkness and
the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and
awesome day of YAHWEH.
How can the moon be turned into blood or the sun
darkened? This is most likely referring to solar and lunar
eclipses that will take place as marking signs to the
closeness of the return of Yahshua and the Kingdom of
Yahweh to this earth.
Yahweh primarily put the sun, moon and stars to rotate in
a circular motion and at times those motions are to
interact and cross each other in conjunction to cause
eclipses that will act as signs to Yahwehs elect to know
the closeness of the times.

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As we have seen, these luminary bodies also act to divide

between the day and night, and the seasons, and turning
of one year to the next. Without understanding Yahwehs
Biblical Calendar in the heavens and His circular pattern
of worship it would be almost impossible to calculate the
calendar correctly and to keep the set apart Holy Days of
Yahweh properly.
Living in Israel and learning from the Jewish experts here
has been immeasurable in this quest for truth on the
Biblical Calendar. Israel has a very unique agricultural
season and without understanding the significance of this
fact would make it virtually impossible for one to get the
biblical calendar correct.
The reason there are so many erroneous calendars today
is that the men creating them are thinking from a western
mindset and have no idea to the original premises of the
biblical calendar set out by Yahweh from the land of
Israel.
I pray that you will be greatly benefited by this book. For
separate articles on each of the calendar subjects or for
videos or audios on the subject please go to
www.coyhwh.com. At present this material is only
available electronically but Yah willing we hope to print it
sometime in the future.

Be Blessed, BShem Yahshua,

Don Esposito
Senior Elder Congregation of YHWH Jerusalem

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