God's Clock - the Biblical Year - Part 1

Why Should We Define a Year by the Heavens and Not the Barley?

In this blog showing the meaning and message of the Mazzaroth (heavenly lights), I have pointed out that the Creator gave the heavenly lights as His Clock. 

In January, I showed how the heavenly lights determine both a day and a Biblical month. Now let's see how Yahweh uses the heavenly lights to define a Biblical year. Remember that, in Genesis 1:14 Scripture tells us that Yahweh defines a year by the heavenly lights:

Genesis 1:14  "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years." 

Before we can address when the Biblical year begins, we must be reminded about when a Biblical month begins. The Biblical month begins at the rosh khodesh. This is the Hebrew term translated as New Moon. As I shared previously in this blog, the primary meaning of khodesh is actually "New Moon" or "New Moon Day" and it is only by extension that it came to mean "month", that is, the period between one New Moon and the next.

The primary meaning of khodesh - being a day (the day of the New Moon), rather than a month of days, is preserved in a number of passages such as 1 Samuel 20:5 in which Jonathan says to David "Tomorrow is the New Moon (khodesh)". 

Clearly, in this verse khodesh is used to refer to the specific day on which the month begins and not the entire month.

Another passage which uses khodesh in its primary sense is Ezekiel 46:1 which talks about "The Day (yom) of the New Moon (ha-khodesh)". Clearly in this verse khodesh (New Moon) is a specific event and the beginning of the month is the day on which this event (New Moon) occurs.

Additionally, rosh khodesh is from the Hebrew root word khadash which means that the moon is "renewed" or "rebuilt". 

Some have wondered if the New Moon day should be when the sky is black, meaning the moon is in its conjunction phase. 

On a standard calendar, the days indicated as new moon days are when the moon is completely invisible, being in the conjunction phase. These conjunction days, now astronomically called new moon days, were not the biblical New Moon days. This is clear from the root meaning of rosh kodesh. The moon is not "renewed" or "rebuilt" when it is in the conjunction phase. 

It is "renewed" and "rebuilt" when one sights the first visible sliver of the moon, following the conjunction phase. So, to be perfectly clear, the biblical day of the New Moon is the day after the night on which the first visible sliver of the moon is sighted. This is when the moon is renewed or rebuilt.

Annual Sabbatarians believe that the new moon is a significant factor in determining the start of the Biblical year. The question and point of controversy slips in over which new moon to use and how that new moon is designated.

There are many points of view on this subject. But, for the purpose of this study, we will address the three main viewpoints regarding the start of the Biblical year. They are:

• The year begins with the first new moon after the barley is “Abib” in Jerusalem.
• The year begins with the new moon NEAREST the vernal equinox (in 2007 that was March 20).
• The year begins with the first new moon AFTER the vernal equinox.

Having three distinct and differing views on when the Biblical year begins has created three distinct and differing dating systems for determining when the annual Sabbaths take place. Once again, the devil has accomplished quite a divide-and-conquer coup against Yahweh's sincere followers.

In this study, let us prayerfully consider these three views and examine them with Scripture.

Can it be Proven from the Bible that the Biblical year Starts with the Barley Being "Abib" in Jerusalem?

First, it must be noted that the majority of Sabbatarians do not keep the Seventh-day Sabbath by Jerusalem time, unless they live in Jerusalem.

If we do not get online to find out when the Seventh-day of the week has fully arrived in Jerusalem for determining the timing of the Seventh-day Sabbath, why would we get online to determine when something is happening in Jerusalem to determine when the Biblical year begins?

While this methodology is an unaddressed inconsistency among Barley believers, there is an equally obvious reason for it. If people tried to calculate the beginning of the year by the Barley in their own area, there would be no dating consistency among annual Sabbatarians at all. 

Susie's grain would come up a few days before Jane's and so on. And the result would be that Susie and Jane feast-keeper would soon be having to keep these holy days alone in their own homes as no one's dates were in agreement. 

The instruction to "assemble" ourselves together would be completely unheeded. 

Thus, for consistency, Barley believers start their calculation of the Biblical year by the first new moon following the Barley being "Abib" in Jerusalem.

The modern Karaite movement, largely follows this view. But, before we decide if this view is the correct one or not - Biblically, we must look at what the Bible has to say about "Abib".

The term "Abib" is mentioned four times in the Bible. Here are all four of the Biblical mentionings of the word "Abib":

• Exodus 13:3-4 - “And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. This day came ye out in the month Abib."

• Exodus 23:15 - “Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before Me empty).”

• Exodus 34:18 - “The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt."

• Deuteronomy 16:1 - “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.”

Adding no concepts other than what is plainly stated in these Scriptural references, we find the following:

• "Abib" is the Biblical name of a month.
• Passover and Unleavened Bread take place during the month of "Abib."
• Because Passover and Unleavened Bread take place in the first month of the Biblical year, we can safely conclude that the Bible is telling us that "Abib" is the name of the first month of the Biblical year.

Now, we must not jump too fast regarding making these texts say things they do not state. Barley believers add the following additional beliefs to the above list:

• "Abib" refers to a certain stage of ripeness in the barley harvest.
• "Abib" begins at the first new moon after the barley has reached this certain stage of ripeness.
• Not just any barley will do - the barley ripeness in question is Jerusalem barley.

But none of these additional beliefs is supported by the four mentionings of the word "Abib" in the Bible. So, let us examine the meaning of the Hebrew word "Abib." Perhaps the connection to barley is found in the meaning of this word.

According to Strong’s Concordance #24 – Abib means “to be tender, green, young ear of grain, green ears of corn.” 

So where does the barley come into people’s minds regarding Abib? It isn’t found in the Bible verses using this term, nor is it found in the Hebrew meaning the of the word.

Barley comes into significance in the month of Abib because of its use in the ceremony of First Fruits. First Fruits is a holy day that falls within the week of Unleavened Bread, which falls within the month of Abib. 

At First Fruits, a special "sheaf of first fruits" was to be waved on the day after the Sabbath during the week of Unleavened Bread.

Leviticus 23:10-11 - “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”

No details about what comprises the "sheaf of first fruits" are given in Leviticus 23:10-11. But, the Bible does specify the grains used in First Fruits in 2 Kings 4:42. 

2 Kings 4:42 “And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.”

Biblically then, we find proof for the following statements:

• "Abib" is the name of the first month in the Biblical year.
• "Abib" is translated to mean "greening" or a time when plants are "tender" and there are "young ears of grain".
• Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits are holy days that take place during the month of Abib.
• Barley and corn are the grains used in First Fruits.
• It would be needed to have some freshly harvested barley and corn in order to keep First Fruits in Bible times.

But having barley for wave sheaf is a far cry different from waiting for the Jerusalem barley to be in a certain stage of ripeness and then watching for the next new moon. The fact remains that the Bible never says to calculate the start of the year from the barley being in any stage of ripeness. It merely suggests a connection in timing. There is a big difference between general timing of having barley and the precise timing of watching for the first new moon after Jerusalem's barley is at a certain stage of ripeness.

This is a jump in thinking that has no overt (stated in the texts) or covert (found in the Hebrew meaning) Scriptural basis. Let us examine the Karaite viewpoint, promoted on the Karaite Korner (website). The following statement is taken from the Karaite Korner website:

"...The actual timing of the pilgrimage feasts is dependent upon the barley harvest in Yerushalayim, which can only be determined by waiting upon YHWH. The best source of this information is presently obtained by accessing the Karaite Korner web site, as the Karaites specialize in the agricultural barley calendar issues." (Nehemia Gordon, www.karaite-korner.com)

On the one hand, the Karaite viewpoint for starting the year seems to be using the first new moon following the Jerusalem barley being "Abib", but on the other hand, they use the Vernal Equinox to determine historical new moons. This practice weakens their argument, rendering them inconsistent at best. 

One example of this practice is the Karaite contention that the Day of Atonement, in the year 1844, was on September 23. Why does this come up? The Karaites make this statement in order to contend with Seventh-day Adventists, who claim that the Day of Atonement was October 22, 1844. 

Now, this blog is not about the argument for which day was Atonement in 1844. The purpose of this blog is to show inconsistency in how the Karaites determine the holy Days. 

For that purpose, alone, let us continue in this vein. The typical Karaite viewpoint on this is stated most powerfully, as follows: Robert K. Sanders, with Nehemia's endorsement wrote: 

“Yom Kippur 1844 was celebrated by the Karaites in September and not October... Seventh-day Adventists have FAILED to provide any Karaite calendar or any documentation from the Karaite Jews to show their Day of Atonement was on October 22 and that it was a month later than the Rabbinical Date. S. S. Snow was wrong in setting the wrong date and Ellen G. White was wrong in endorsing it with her prophetic seal. Ellen's date of October 22, 1844 HAS BEEN IMPEACHED, AS WELL AS HER SANCTUARY AND INVESTIGATIVE JUDGMENT DOCTRINE.” (http://www.truthorfables.com/Day_of_Atonement_of_the_Karaite.htm)

Clearly, in this statement, the Karaites have inadvertently revealed a deep inconsistency in their dating. How can the Karaites arrive at such a firm date (September 23, 1844) when there are no clear records of Jerusalem's barley harvest in the year 1844? Not only are the Karaites sure that Yom Kippur was on September 23 of the year 1844, many Messianic Karaites teach that they can calculate the day of the week upon which Passover fell in Christ's lifetime. There are definitely no barley harvest records going back that far! In these historical cases, Karaites switch back to the Mazzaroth way of dating. 

Through using US Naval Observatory calculations, it is possible to accurately pinpoint the start of any year, even going back into the time of the life of Christ. And if you can pinpoint the start of the year, you can find any given feast day (such as Passover - upon which Christ died). This is because the US Naval Observatory is capable of pinpointing any Vernal Equinox and any new moon.

Rabbi Scheinerman, in Jerusalem, puts the Jerusalem barley growing season into early summer! (See: http://scheinerman.net/judaism/shavuot/index.html) This gives a pretty wide window in which to have the first of the year and still have barley in Abib.

But, the question it boils down to is: does the day of the new year have to wait for barley to be ripe to begin? Or can there be a first month of the Biblical year without a barley harvest at all? If there can be a Biblical beginning of the year without a barley harvest, then the logical conclusion is that the barley is not the critical indicator of the year's beginning.

There are three very serious issues which starting the year with the Barley doesn't address. Please consider these three considerations:

• Consideration # 1: The Jubilee years had no grain planting - no barley

For two successive growing seasons (the Sabbath and Jubilee years), no grain was to be planted and, therefore, no maturing barley was available to consult (Leviticus 25:1-24). True, barley sometimes sprouts and grows voluntarily with no cultivation, but this was less likely in the second year. It was illegal to reap volunteer grain in the 50th year, so Israel probably allowed their flocks to graze the fields. This was legal (Leviticus 25:7,11).

• Consideration # 2: Noah knew the beginning of year while the earth was covered with water - no barley

During the flood, Noah was able to determine the first day of the year without consulting a barley harvest... anywhere on earth.

Genesis 8:13 “And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.”

• Consideration # 3: During the Wandering in the Wilderness (40 years) Israel started the years - no barley

During the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness (a desert), Israel kept a careful record of the months and years - apparently without consulting the barley harvest in Canaan.

But the Bible does tell us to start and end a Biblical year by the Mazzaroth (heavenly lights)...  We'll take a look at that in tomorrow's blog...

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