Click on Calendars above to see all the World Calendars through History

Which Calendar?

The task for us as believers, then, is to figure out which of these calendars is the one Yehovah wants, and then to systematically ignore all of the others.

It is actually very easy to figure out which one of the many calendars in this world is from Yehovah, and which are not. All we have to do is to look at the Torah¹, figure out how Yehovah wants time reckoned, and then systematically ignore all of the other means of reckoning time. However, while this may be easy in theory, in practice the task can seem far more difficult.

Once a Christian is called out of the Church (and begins to re-awaken to his or her identity as an Ephraimite²), first he is usually led to the truth of the Sabbath. Then he usually becomes aware of the pagan origins of the Christian calendar. Many then embrace the Orthodox rabbinic calendar, believing that it is Yehovah’s true Torah calendar.

Lunar-only Calendars

A prime example of the Lunar-only calendar is the Muslim (Islamic) calendar. In the Islamic calendar, the sacred days are determined by the phases of the moon alone. However, an interesting phenomenon happens in this lunar-only calendar. Since the rotations of the moon about the earth do not match up precisely with the rotations of the earth about the sun, the Islamic calendar ‘drifts’ backwards about eleven days each year (on average). This is why the Islamic feast of Ramadan can be in the fall one year, then be in winter some decades later, and then drift into the spring, and then finally into summer (and then back into fall), ‘migrating’ from decade to decade. In scientific terms, this happens because the Muslim calendar has no system of ‘intercalation’ (or self-adjustment). Because it does not intercalate (or self-adjust), the start date drifts from season to season.

Solar-only Calendars

On the other end of the spectrum, then, is the Solar-only calendar, of which the most infamous example is the Roman (Gregorian) calendar. This Gregorian calendar only pays attention to the movement of the earth around the sun. It pays no attention at all to the movement of the moon about the earth in setting its months, which is ironic considering the word “month” is derived from the word “moon.”

In setting the months, the Roman Solar does not pay attention to the moon at all. Rather, it pays attention only to the four phases of the sun (which correspond to the four seasons), and to the four annual punctuations of the solar cycle (including the Summer and Winter Solstices, and the Spring and Fall Equinoxes).

We might note that the solar-only system is not only the same calendar used by the Romans, but it is also the same calendar used in Satanism and witchcraft. Not only this, it is also the exact same calendar upon which the so-called “Christian” calendar is based (and in fact, the Christians inherited it from the Romans). This solar-only calendar intercalates (adjusts) based upon complex mathematical calculations that we will not attempt to explain here.

Lunar-Solar-Agricultural Calendars

The third calendar category, then, contains all those calendars which use more than just the sun or the moon alone to determine the start-date of their annual cycle. These include the rabbinic calendar, the so-called “Lunar Sabbath” calendar (and its variants), and the two major variants of the so-called “Karaite” calendar, (only) one of which is Yehovahs’s true original Torah calendar. We will speak more about all of these as this study progresses.

The Torah Calendar: Fundamentals

The primary principle that we are working with here is that any calendar which claims to be Scriptural must conform itself to Scripture: if not, then it is heretical, and should be discarded.

If a calendar does not conform exactly to Scripture (because it incorporates certain man-made [pagan] elements), then it cannot be a Scriptural calendar (but is heretical). As this article will show, this is the case with the rabbinic calendar, the Lunar-Sabbath calendar, the Lunar-Conjunction calendar, and even one of the two main “Karaite” calendars: They do not conform to Scripture; and therefore they must be discarded.

From the time Yehovah asked Noah to build the Ark, to the time Yehovah asked Abraham to hear the Still Small Voice and leave his home and his father’s house, to the time He asked him to slay Isaac, Yehovah has always asked His people to do certain things that seem difficult. The reason He does these things is precisely to test us, and to build our faith. Just as Israel was tested and tried in the wilderness, Yehovah also tests and tries His people today, by asking them to wait on Him, no matter how difficult it might seem.

In an era where work plans, business deadlines and reservations are most conveniently scheduled weeks and months (if not years) in advance, it might seem very frustrating to the average man to have to use an intercalated calendar, in which the start date of the next year can never be known with certainty. Many find the pre-calculated calendars (such as the Gregorian Western “solar-only” calendar) offer them much more freedom, and for this reason they are reluctant to embrace an intercalated calendar, such as Yehovah’s Torah calendar (because it is much less convenient).

One of the reasons Yehovah asks us to follow His calendar is because it shows Him who is really willing to obey Him (or not). And then, another one of the advantages is that it improves and sharpens our abilities to plan, and to remain flexible.

As we shall see here, and as we shall also discuss in other studies, the Torah calendar intercalates (self-adjusts) its start date according to the interplay of the sun and the moon with the maturation of the barley in the Land of Israel. This interplay of the sun, the moon and agriculture makes the Torah calendar a lunar-solar-agricultural calendar.

As we have said, the start (or head) of the New Year is never predicted in this calendar, but can only be observed. Notice, then, what a profound difference in perspective it makes, that one does not predict the head of the New Year, but only observes it. Rather than thinking, one is looking, and watching. Rather than get caught up in one’s thoughts, one is careful to wait and see. This is the kind of careful perspicacity Yehovah seeks to develop in His people.

Let us note well: man’s role in the Torah calendar is only to observe (and then to declare) what Yehovah has already caused to occur. This is an eastern mindset.

We will talk about sighting the barley in a moment, but first let us talk about the need to sight the new moon.

Sighting the New Moon

In the Lunar Sabbath, Lunar Conjunction and Full Moon models, there is no one set pinpoint time which can be declared as “the” Hodesh. This is because in the Lunar Sabbath, Lunar Conjunction and Full Moon models, the period of time that the moon is full (or obscured) is anywhere from 1.5 to 3.5 days long (and thus, there is no pinpoint time).

Since there is no one pinpoint time that the moon is full (or obscured), it is impossible to say, “Behold, the New Moon chodesh is tomorrow.” For this reason (and many others which we will explain), we know that King David did not keep a Lunar Sabbath (or a Lunar Conjunction, or a “Full-moon Sabbath”).

Proponents of the Lunar Conjunction model(s) will argue that ancient Israelites calculated the day of the New Moon, rather than sighting it. We see from the historical record in the Talmud that this assertion is false, but it was also the Babylonian (and not the Israelite) astronomers who later learned how to calculate the exact length of the Conjunction. Therefore, the Lunar Conjunction model also does not work. But rather, as we will see, the method of determining the New Month chodesh in Yeshua’s day was by direct sighting (observation), and not by prediction of any type.

The ancient method of observing the Hodesh was to go out in the evening about the 28th day of the Hebrew month, and look on successive nights, until the Hodesh was seen. When two reliable witnesses have sighted the first crescent sliver of the New Moon, and have informed the priests, the priesthood then verifies the reliability of the witnesses, and declares the New Month.

Once the month is declared, the month lasts until the next first crescent sliver is sighted. However, since the average length of time it takes for the moon to go around the earth and then get back into position to be seen is 29.5 days, if the next Hodesh is not sighted within thirty days, then the next Hodesh is declared by default.

It should also be noted that the thirty-day count for the sighting of the Hodesh is completely independent of the weekly “count seven” that determines the (weekly) Shabbat cycle. Lunar-Sabbath model proponents will make a different argument, but as we will see below, their arguments are fatally flawed.

Let’s now explore: The Sabbatical Years?

1
Torah: H8451 tôrâh (to-raw’) From H3384; In in Hebrew can mean teaching, direction, guidance and law. The most prominent meaning is: a precept or statute, especially the Decalogue or Pentateuch (First 5 Books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). This is the context when I quote Torah in this document
2
Ephramite is a teaching of Nazarene Israel