A shofar made from a ram's horn is traditionally blown in observance of Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish civic year. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
By: Bob Barney
Many do not realize it, but God has His own set of Holy Days (Holidays) mentioned in the pages of the Bible. The holy days that Jesus followed, as well as the apostles and the early church were not the so-called "Christian" holidays such as Easter, Christmas or Halloween! No, the days that Jesus and his followers observed were:
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Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
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The Feast of First Fruits
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Penetecost or the Feast of Weeks
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Feast of Trumpets (today)
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Day of Atonement
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Feast of Tabernacles
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The Sabbath
Seven in all! Seven is a number of completion to God. This is why the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath Day. The Sabbath symbolizes the completion of the week.
The Bible not only mentions the days God ordained for His people to observe, it also states that the observance of these days will be mandated during the Millennium! Yes, there is a prophecy that states that the nation of Egypt will be punished for refusing to make holy the Feast of Tabernacles (a week long Feast of God beginning in 15 days.) This is found in the minor prophet Zechariah 14:16-19:
16 Then all of the survivors from the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go there each year to worship the King, the LORD(Jesus) of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
17 And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD(Jesus) Almighty (of hosts), on them there will be no rain.
18 If the Egyptians refuse to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles, then they will be struck by the same disease that the LORD(Jesus) will send on every nation that refuses to go.
19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
20 On that day even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with these words: SET APART AS HOLY TO THE LORD. And the cooking pots in the Temple of the LORD will be as sacred as the basins used beside the altar.
21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in all Judah will be set apart for use in the worship of the LORD(Jesus) Almighty. The people who offer sacrifices will use them for boiling the meat of the sacrifices. When that time comes, there will no longer be any merchant in the Temple of the LORD(Jesus) Almighty.
So goes the argument that the Holy Days have been abolished! Right? Maybe that is why Paul kept them feast! See Acts 18:21 for the New Testament proof of God's Holy Days.
A problem does occur however, and that is the calendar of God. The Bible is not clear concerning the particulars of the calendar and a brief search into the subject will bring to light that in Jesus' time, each faction that controlled the Temple used different calendars! The Essenes of the Dead Sea Scrolls fame, had themselves a radically different calendar than did the Sadducees and Pharisees. The later used a LUNAR Calendar, the Essenes used a solar calendar. Therefore the dating of these holidays will never be exactly known until the return of Christ. He will re-institute the Law, the Holy Days, The Sabbath AND the true solar calendar.
After many years of study, I came to the conclusion that the calendar that Jesus was following was the same one instituted by Moses, and originally devised by God Himself during the time of Adam and Eve. In a nutshell, the real Calendar given to Moses was a SOLAR based one starting each new year on the spring equinox. I often are asked by non-Jewish people (Jews understand many of the Hebrew words and their meaning) how do we know that the first month of the year falls on or near the spring equinox. It does state in the English Bible when the new month starts. However, in Exodus 34:18 we are told that the first month of the year is ABIB. That is a Hebrew word meaning- the “month of ear-forming, of greening of crop, of growing green.” It is during Abib-springtime, that the month of exodus and passover (March or April) occurs. This is a timeframe NOT controlled by the moon, but rather by the spring equinox.
Moses was raised as an Egyptian. The Egyptians who also followed the SOLAR and not a Lunar-Solar Year, was familiar to Moses. The Hebrew Calendar given to Moses by God was the same as the Egyptian calendar, but started in a different month– the month of springtime! The year started on the spring equinox (March 20-21) instead of the summer solstice (The Egyptian new year about June 21). The Bible shows beyond any shadow of a doubt that God's calendar only has 12— 30-day months (which is only 360 days) After the flood, when world calendars were found to be longer than before, the Egyptians added an additional 5-1/4 days of each year. These days are simply NOT COUNTED! This is how God did it too! They had 12— 30-day months and 5 to 6 extra non-counted days each year and the year ended on the day before the equinox. It's just that simple. The new year was the only thing "fixed". It is fixed on the equinox to make sure that ABIB falls each year in the springtime. So, in Moses' calendar that "fix date" is the spring equinox to make sure Passover always fell on the same solar day! Proof of a 12 month 30 day month year? Revelation says that 1260 days equal 3-1/2 years OR 42 months! Do the math! In the modern Hebrew lunar calendar, 3-1/2 years contains 43 months and not 1260 days! It is PLAIN and simple. In every example given in the Bible, a year only consist of only 12 months and 360 days! The Bible answers all of it's own mysteries. Do you want proof that Jesus did not follow the Jewish Calendar lunar calendar of His day? His Passover was 1 Day BEFORE the Jewish Passover! Nobody ever notices that fact….. He was following another Passover! No, he was not following a “special Passover”, a day earlier, as some say– READ THE WORDS IN THE BIBLE:
Matthew 26:17 Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"
The first day of the feast, Passover (the 14th of the month) was the day of the last Supper! This obviously implies, the next day, when the Jewish Passover would start, they were following a different date for the time of Passover!
For a Real Scholarly Article on the real Calendar date:CLICK HEREWARNING BORING!! But good…
NEW YEARS DAY- In the spring – even in America
Believe it or not, before January 1, 1752 AD New Years Day was celebrated on March 25 in America and England! This is true for England and the British Empire including the American colonies. This fact can be verified by looking at any good almanac or encyclopedia under the entries for March, Calendar, New Year’s Day, January etc. There were both secular and religious calendars in the past, as is still the case today. And these varied from place to place. In many other countries the secular calendars were standardized into the present format in the year 1582. Although, the tradition of January 1 being New Year’s Day goes back to Julius Caesar and his calendar in 46 B.C.
The tradition of celebrating the New Year in the Springtime goes back to an ancient Jewish tradition of celebrating it in the month of Nisan, which corresponded to the month of March. It was during this month that the Passover Feast was celebrated. Although the Jews currently celebrate New Years at Harvest time, they used to celebrate it in the Spring according to their ancient Passover tradition. See Exodus chapter 12.
Exodus 12:1-11
“The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ‘This month shall stand at the head of your calendar; you shall reckon it the first month of the year. … every one of your families must procure for itself a lamb … it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight. … you shall eat like those who are in flight. It is the Passover of the LORD.’ ” [This month is called Abib, Exodus 23:15 – or Nisan, Babylonian name Neh. 2:1, – or March. It occurred in the Springtime near the vernal equinox]
“In fact, an ancient Passover poem, used in synagogue liturgy, depicts four great events in salvation history occurring on the same calendar day as Passover: the creation of the universe, the covenant with Abraham, and Israel’s deliverance from Egypt all occurred on the night of the Passover. And it was on this night that the future messianic king was expected to bring redemption.” [ Edward P. Sri’s article “The Heart of the Home” in CFR, (Steubenville: Emmaus Road, 1998) edited by Hahn and Suprenant, pages 165-166, in a reference to poem called the “Poem of the Four Nights,” found in the Jewish targum Neophyti, cited in Lucien Deiss, It’s the Lord’s Supper (London: Collins, 1975), 35.] (SOURCE)
