How do we calculate the time for the Holy days?

This is a very important question and one which must be answered accurately.

It is not good enough to be close to the actual Holy day, we must be exact.

God has set the sun moon and stars in the sky for a number of reasons, the stars have several uses, one of them is so we can use them for direction.

The sun keeps us warm, and gives us light, but also it is used as a time clock. Its setting tells us the start and end of a day.

The moon is connected to the tides, and also gives great light at the time of the full moon, but the new moon marks the very important time of the 1^st of each month.

Let’s look at the scriptures now on this subject.

Notice that the lights were for signs for seasons days and years.

Gen 1:14  Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;

Psa 104:19  He appointed the moon for seasons; The sun knows its going down.

The setting of the sun marks the end and start of a day.

Lev 23:32  It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.”

Neh 13:19  So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day.

Now we come to the holy days it is imperative that we know how to calculate these.

The new moon is the 1^st day of the month.

Psa 81:3  Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.

Notice this scripture the horn or trumpet is to be blown on the new moon, the Holy day here is of course trumpets, and it is on the 1^st of the month.

Notice the time of trumpets in the following scripture.

Lev 23:24  “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

Lev 23:25  You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.’ ”

Now that we know the 1^st of the month is marked by the new moon, we now show how to find out the correct new moon times.

In Australia, we have an Australian Government site which gives the time of the new moon, once you do the necessary adjustments for the Australian Eastern Standard time, you can then calculate the time of the new moon. Again this has to be very carefully done with sunset times in mind, to make sure the new moon is within the correct time. For instance if the new moon is on the 7^th, but the time of the new moon is after the sunset time it will be the 8^th not the 7^th.

God calculates time by sunset not midnight. People in the world start and end each day at midnight, but God states the days begin and end at sunset.

The new moon is the key to calculating the correct dates of the Holy days. It is not hard, God does not expect us to be astronomers or scientists to work out the correct time for His Holy days. Once we know the exact time of the new moon, we then know that the new moon is the 1^st of the month, it is so easy to then know what dates the Holy days fall on.

Now let’s look at each Holy Day and when it falls.

Jewish Months

1      Nissan

2      Iyar

3      Sivan

4      Tammuz

5      Menachem Av

6      Elul

7      Tishrei

8      Marcheshvan

9      Kislev

10     Tevet

11     Shevat

12     Adar

PASSOVER:

Lev 23:4  ‘These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.

Lev 23:5  On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD’s Passover.

The Passover is on the 14^th the service of the Passover is kept on the night at the start of the 15^th. The 14^th is the preparation day. It is the day that we prepare for the Passover. We make all ready to take the service. Have the bread and wine ready, prepare a place to take the Passover service. This is what we do physically on the day of the 14^th. We then have the Passover service after sunset at the start of the 15^th. This is the beginning of the first day of Unleavened Bread.

Notice the scriptures to back up this new knowledge.

Joh 19:14  Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

Joh 19:31  Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

Now the reader might very rightly say, Jesus did not keep the Passover on this date, He kept it the night before He died. This is correct, but only for that one time, because Jesus was the Passover lamb. He had to die at the same time that the Passover lambs were killed. Therefore He would be dead at the correct time for the Passover and had to take it one night early.

Notice that the Jews were yet to take the Passover at the time of the arrest of Jesus. They were going to take the Passover that night. That was the correct time to take the Passover. Jesus could not keep the Passover at the correct time because He would be dead at that time.

Joh 18:28  Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.

DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD:

The first day of Unleavened Bread is on the 15^th of the first month.

Lev 23:6  And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

Lev 23:7  On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.

As explained above, the Passover is eaten at the start of the first day of Unleavened Bread. We do not take the Passover service, and then go back to eating leaven, then put the leaven out ready for Unleavened Bread. The leaven is removed from our homes, just prior to taking the Passover service. The Passover is taken during the first day of Unleavened Bread, therefore no leaven is to be in our homes at the time of taking the Passover.

The last day of Unleavened Bread is the 21^st.

Lev 23:8  But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ”

WAVESHEAF:

On the first Sunday during the days of Unleavened Bread is the Wavesheaf.

Lev 23:10  “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

Lev 23:11  He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

Today we offer a prayer to God of thanks for the following reasons:

1.     To offer ourselves to God as one of the firstfruits

2.     An offering of thanks to Jesus Christ for His sacrifice

3.     An offering to God the Father for the knowledge of eternal life.

This offering should take the form of a prayer of thanksgiving as the following scripture indicates:

Psa 116:17  I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will call upon the name of the LORD.

The day of Pentecost is counted from the Wavesheaf. The Wavesheaf falls on a Sunday during the days of Unleavened Bread, from the Sunday Wavesheaf we count 50 days. That day is Pentecost.

PENTECOST:

Pentecost is 50 days from Wavesheaf. It is always on a Sunday and is counted from Wavesheaf.

Lev 23:15  ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.

Lev 23:16  Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD.

Lev 23:17  You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD.

TRUMPETS:

Trumpets is on the 1^st of the month and therefore this holy day falls on the new moon. It is very important that we know the exact time of the new moon to keep this holy day and all the holy days on the correct day. A near miss is not acceptable to God and we must spend time on this very important aspect of God’s holy days.

Trumpets is on the 1^st day of the seventh month.

Lev 23:24  “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

Lev 23:25  You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.’ ”

ATONEMENT:

The day of Atonement is on the 10^th of the seventh month.

Lev 23:27  “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.

Lev 23:28  And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God.

Lev 23:29  For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people.

Lev 23:30  And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.

Lev 23:31  You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Lev 23:32  It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.”

FEAST OF TABERNACLES:

The Feast is on the 15^th of the seventh month. The Feast is for seven days,

Lev 23:34  “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD.

Lev 23:35  On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it.

Lev 23:36  For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.

LAST GREAT DAY:

The Last Great Day falls after the seven days of the Feast. It is on the 22^nd day of the seventh month. It is different to the Feast, during the Feast we sit in booths for a portion of time over the seven days, but these temporary dwellings are to be taken down on the last day of the Feast before the start of the Last Great Day. This is a separate Holy Day with a different meaning than the Feast of Tabernacles.

Lev 23:36  For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.