Christian Churches of God

No. 156

God’s Calendar

(Edition 5.0 19960316-20000320-20070724-20080103-20160508)

The Calendar put in place by God was set in motion at the creation. It does not depend on man or on any system of observation to determine. It was in place during the entire Temple period of Israel and is not the same calendar as observed by Jews today. Christians are obliged by Law and the Testimony of the Bible to keep this Calendar and no other.

Christian Churches of God

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God’s Calendar

Introduction to the Jewish Calendar

The calendar of the Jewish system is a later derived system and was not the one used in the Temple period over the time of Christ and the Church. Schürer says in Appendix 3 of The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (Vol. 1, p. 587 ff.), “the Jewish names are of Assyro-Babylonian origin; their Akkadian equivalents are: ni-sa-an-nu, a-a-ru, sf-ma-nu, du-u-zu etc.”, and he refers to Landsburger’s work on the subject (Materialen zum Sumerischen Lexikon V (1957), pp. 25-26 etc.). Schürer further states:

Within the sphere of Judaism, the earliest document listing all the months in succession is Megillath Ta’anith. It was compiled in the first or early second century A. D., since it is already quoted in the Mishnah [The Mishnah was compiled around about the second century]. Of later authorities, it is necessary only to mention the little-known Christian, Josephus who in his Hypomnesticum (PG cvi, col. 33) has [Nesan, Eiar, Eiouan, Thamouz, “Ab, ‘Eloul, ‘Osri (read Thisri), Marsaban, Chaseleu, Tebeth, Eabath, ‘Adar].

After listing the evidence for the names of the Jewish months (see Appendix) he then says:

The Jewish months have continued always to be what the months of all civilised nations were by origin; namely, genuine lunar months. As the astronomical duration of a month is 29 days, 12 hours, 44’, 3”, months of 29 days must alternate fairly regularly with months of 30 days. But twelve lunar months amount to only 354 days, 8 hours, 48’ 38”, whereas the solar year comprises of 365 days, 5 hours, 48’ 48”. The difference between a lunar year of twelve months and a solar year amounts, therefore, to 10 days 21 hours. To compensate for this difference, at least once in every third year, and sometimes in the second, one month must be intercalated. It was observed in very early times that a sufficiently accurate compensation was attained by intercalating a month three times in every eight years (during which period, the difference amounts to 87 days). The quadrennial Greek games already depended on a recognition of this 8-year cycle (‘octaeteris’), the four year cycle being arrived at simply by halving it.

Hence the Olympiad is based upon the lunar calendar.

Schürer continues:

As early as the fifth century B.C., the astronomer Meton of Athens had drawn up a still more exact system of compensation in the form of a 19 year cycle, in which a month was to be intercalated seven times. This considerably excelled the 8-year cycle in accuracy, because in nineteen years there remained a difference of a little over two hours, whereas in eight years it was one of one and a half days. Of later astronomers who provided even more accurate computations, Hipparchus of Nicaea (c. 180-120 B.C.) deserves especial mention. The fact that after every nineteen years, the course of the sun and moon coincide again almost exactly, was also well known to the Babylonians. In fact, cuneiform inscriptions have been thought to show that they regularly employed a 19 year intercalary cycle as far back as the time of Nabonnassar, long before Meton therefore. Even if this is not yet proved, the use of a nineteen year intercalary period in the Persian and Seleucid eras may nevertheless be accepted as verified, though it is still not absolutely certain whether priority belongs to the Greeks or (as is probable) the Babylonians.

So, the Babylonians possessed the knowledge of the 19-year cycle lunar calendar. They understood it long before the philosopher Meton. Even if it is not yet proved for Babylon, the nineteen-year intercalary period in the Persian and Seleucid eras may nevertheless be accepted as verified. Schürer is absolutely not certain whether the priority of understanding belongs to the Greeks, or as is probable, the Babylonians. It will be found to long precede even the Babylonians.

Schürer notes:

…that the nineteen-year cycle was used in the kingdom of the Arsacids in the first century B.C. and A.D., and has been shown by Th. Reinach from coins on which the years 287, 317, and 390 of the Seleucid era appear as intercalary years. How far had the Jews of the inter-Testamental era advanced in these matters? They had some general knowledge of them of course, but unless we are altogether deceived, at the time of Jesus, they still had no fixed calendar, but on the basis of purely empirical observation, began each new month with the appearance of the new moon, and similarly on the basis of observation intercalated one month in the spring of the third or second year in accordance with the rule that in all circumstances, Passover must fall after the vernal equinox.

The quotes begin the paper with that inter-Testamental period and Schürer’s comments on the calendar. God’s Calendar goes back to creation. It is not dependent on what the Jews were doing at the time of Jesus Christ and, indeed, we will see why Schürer is not, in fact, correct or exhaustive in this matter. We know that the observation system was introduced at a later period and used in concert with the calculations of the conjunction seemingly to justify the traditions. Scholars are in fair agreement that the Samaritans and the Sadducees both had the same system, which was based on the conjunction and calculated and announced at least eight months in advance – certainly in the case of the Samaritans. We will examine this aspect further. Schürer does not make the logical step in his argument to show why the Jews came to be operating by observation, when they knew better, or why they introduced the argument for observation at all at the end of the Temple period. Indeed, we will see that the Pharisees did not have the power to introduce it during the Temple period, through their own deviousness.

It may be safely accepted that the Samaritans had the same calendar for 2500 years at least, and that the calendar and Sabbaths and system they use today, based on the conjunction, are the same calendar and Sabbaths they used during the period of the Temple and beyond. The comments of Ibrahim ibn Ya’kub, the Samaritan Bible commentator, show the Samaritan practices were according to the conjunction. They started the day at evening or twilight. They kept the two-day festival of the 14^th and the 15^th of Nisan or Abib, as the Sabbath-keeping Church has done for two thousand years (cf. The Role of the Fourth Commandment in the Historical Sabbath-keeping Churches of God (No. 170), 1998 edition). They kept the sacrifice on 14 Nisan in the evening at the end of the day of the 14^th and commenced the meal on the evening of 15 Nisan, all determined according to the conjunction. Moreover, they, like the Sadducees in the Temple period, kept Pentecost on the Sunday fifty days after the Wave-Sheaf Sunday in Unleavened Bread (cf. John Bowman (ed. and tr.), Samaritan Documents Relating to Their History, Religion and Life, Pittsburgh Original texts and Translation Series Number 2, pp. 223-237).

There is no evidence to support any case that the Samaritans changed the system, or that they and the other nations mentioned above did not have the capacity to calculate the conjunction precisely, long in advance, over the entire period of the Second Temple. If the Jews “lost” this knowledge at the end of the Second Temple period then they did it deliberately to introduce their traditions. The Church has never followed them in the determination of the calendar and the New Moons except in its more ignorant period of Judaising in the post-Reformation period. Rabbinical Judaism also introduced pagan festivals and systems into their calendar from Babylon in the period of the third century. R. Samuel Kohn, Chief Rabbi of Budapest and a writer on Samaritan practices, writing at Budapest in 1894, records the practices of the Sabbatarian Church over the period of the Reformation. He notes that the Sabbatarian Church there determined the calendar according to the conjunction (with one variation to the Samaritan practices). He also considers the fact that the later Judaisers (post-Simon Pechi) in Transylvania followed Rosh HaShanah or the New Year being celebrated in Tishri, was proof of the Jewish influence. He states that Rosh HaShanah was not introduced into Judaism until the post Temple period in the third century. Dr. Kohn makes mention of this important fact in the work The Sabbatarians in Transylvania, stating it entered at a third century and “post-biblical” period (referring to Talmud Rosh haShanah 8a, at n. 18 to ch. 7) (Ed. W. Cox, trs. T. McElwain and B. Rook, CCG Publishing, USA, 1998, pp. v, 58, 106 ff., et. seq. and nn.). Biblically the New Year is in Abib/Nisan, which is the First month.

The progression from the original pure biblical calendar to the rabbinical calendar introduced from Babylon, firstly under Rabbi Hillel II in 358 CE, was rather long-winded as the traditions had to be entrenched to justify the gradual changes. The Mishnah, which was compiled around 200 CE and on which the Talmud was later written as commentary, more or less records this process by the comments and the authorities it cites.

We will see below that the Calendar at the time of the Temple period followed the Sadducean reckoning, and the Pharisaic reckoning or system only came into effect after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. The Mishnah notes many practices which the modern Jewish calendar is designed to prevent. This calendar was not really perfected – even under Hillel II from ca. 358 – and suffered modification until the eleventh century. Details of the changes and conflicts are recorded in the paper The Calendar and the Moon: Postponements or Festivals? (No. 195).

The Mishnah shows that the Holy Days fell before and after the Sabbath on repeated occasions, which means that the traditions and the system that the Pharisees had invented to protect the traditions were not in place even as late as the compilation of the Mishnah (cf. Soncino Talmud: Shabbat 114b; Menachoth 100b; and Mishnah Besah 2:1; Shabbat 15:3; Sukkah 5:7; Arakhin 2:2; Hagigah 2:4). Back-to-back Sabbaths were common. The text in Hagigah 2:4 shows the conflict developing at that time (200 CE) between the pro- and anti-Sunday Pentecost advocates (cf. ibid. (No. 195) and see below).

It is impossible for the postponement system and the current or modern Jewish calendar to have been in place at the time of Christ.

The Mishnah also states that there are four new years and that the First day of Nisan is the New Year for kings and festivals. This is also examined in the paper The Night to be Much Observed (No. 101) which looks at the Samaritan practices for the Passover. We can also see from these timings in the Mishnah that the datings regarding Ezra and Nehemiah were according to 1 Nisan and not 1 Tishri (cf. Reading the Law with Ezra and Nehemiah (No. 250)). Tishri was used at that time for the reckoning of years, for Sabbatical years and for Jubilees (Rosh Hashanah 1.1 E (3)). We see that the notion of Tishri, which came in from Babylon, was first recorded in the Mishnah as being put forward by R. Eliazar and R. Simeon (ibid. 1.1 D). It was not observed as New Year in the Temple period. The Mishnah also makes an attempt to divorce the beginning of the tithing of cattle to 1 Elul (ibid. 1.1 C). The House of Shammai held the New Year for trees was 1 Shebat, whereas the House of Hillel held it was the fifteenth day of that month. The New Year on the Full Moon is a directly pagan practice, also introduced from Babylon and no doubt associated with the plantings by moon charts. All of this determination is in post-Temple period rabbinical Judaism. Only in the third century do we see Tishri being established by the rabbis. It and the postponement system now hold sway over Judaism, contrary to the word of God. Trumpets is often not on the molad (the conjunction), and the Holy Days of God are postponed by disobedience to other days that God has not ordained.

The Encyclopedia Judaica admits this fact in its article on Fixing Rosh HaShanah (New Year’s Day).

Fixing Rosh HaShanah (New Year’s Day). The year begins on Tishri 1, which is rarely the day of the molad, as there are four obstacles or considerations, called dehiyyah, in fixing the first day of the month (rosh hodesh). Each dehiyyot may cause a postponement of two days: (1) mainly in order to prevent the Day of Atonement (Tishri 10) from falling on Friday or Sunday, and Hoshana Rabba (the seventh day of Sukkot; Tishri 21) from falling on Saturday, but in part also serving an astronomical purpose… (2) entirely for an astronomical reason, if the molad is at noon or later Rosh HaShanah is delayed by one day (ibid., p. 44).

The third and fourth dehiyyah are more complex rules involving specific times of the molad and the consequent postponement of 1 Tishri. These moladot are tabulated with specific postponements, as outlined in the Encyclopedia Judaica article. This rule of postponement was not known at the time of Christ and at the time of the compilation of the Talmud. The Mishnah, and the Talmud as commentary, clearly show that the Day of Atonement fell on a Friday or a Sunday up to the time of the compilation of the Mishnah and, hence, at the time of Christ two centuries before that.

We also see that the occurrence of months was different from what it is under the Jewish calendar.

(Arakhin 2:2): They do not count less than four full months in the year, and [to sages] never have appeared more than eight.

It is thus impossible for the postponements to have been in place at the time of Christ. We continue:

… the present system was expected to be replaced [emphasis added] again by a system based on true values [as opposed to mean values] more akin to the earlier Jewish calendar in which New Moons (days of the phasis [i.e., the length of the interval from the true conjunction to the first sighting of the new crescent]) and intercalations were proclaimed on the basis of both observation and calculation (ibid., p. 47).

Note the comments here show that the calculations were according to the true conjunction according to the phases (which is not visible) and the observations were introduced to confirm what was already known for months and years in advance. The term phases of the moon came from the term phasis and have always applied to the New Moon as full dark, the Full Moon and the first and second quarters. The crescent has never been considered a true phase of the moon in the sense that it is used for the New Moon.

Historical. According to a tradition quoted in the name of Hai Gaon (d. 1038), the present Jewish calendar was introduced by the patriarch Hillel II … in 358/59 AD … While it is not unreasonable to attribute to Hillel II the fixing of the regular order of intercalations, his full share in the present fixed calendar is doubtful (ibid., p. 48).

Note here that the modern Jewish calendar did not really even become fixed until the eleventh century, as Judaica admits. The Judaica then introduces the concept of irregularity in intercalation saying they were irregular.

…intercalation being in part due to the prevailing state of various agricultural products and to social conditions. … the state of crops is ultimately determined by the sun’s position in its annual path (ibid., p. 49).

However, we know that the Sadducees and the Samaritans had no such problem with irregularity and the New Moon was announced by fires lit from the Mt. of Olives, east of the Temple over Kidron (cf. the paper Messiah and the Red Heifer (No. 216)). It was only later that the Samaritans were accused of lighting misleading beacons when the Pharisees took charge after the destruction of the Temple and introduced the postponements by observations.

No such problem existed during the Temple period. John Hyrcanus had destroyed the Samaritan tabernacle on Mt Gerizim during the time of the Maccabees but their religion was left intact. Hyrcanus suppressed the Pharisees and only for nine years under Alexandra did they have sway. Herod suppressed them also for their intrigues. The Sadducees and their system had control of the Temple more or less continually until its seizure in the final period and destruction in 70 CE (cf. ibid., (No. 101)). The Pharisees accused Christ himself of being a Samaritan (Jn. 8:48). This was, as we see from the text, because he denied the truth of their teachings and traditions, as we see from the text. He kept the Temple festivals, which were based on the Sadducean and Samaritan system determined by the conjunction, which was the original Temple system (see below). In John Bowman’s work: The Samaritan Problem: Studies in the Relationships of Samaritanism, Judaism, and Early Christianity (tr. by Alfred M. Johnson Jr., Pittsburgh Theological Monograph Series Number 4, The Pickwick Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1974, ch. 1, pp. 1 ff.) we see that the Samaritans were in the Northern Kingdom even after the dispersion of 721 BCE and a Samaritan diaspora existed in Egypt and Syria from antiquity until the 18th century. Bowman says:

Since many Samaritan manuscripts are available in European libraries, it has always remained a mystery to me why Christian scholars, who have known since the time of Joseph Scalinger (1540-1609) about the survival of the Samaritans, still repeat the same assertions about the Samaritans which were made by the Jews of post-Babylonian, Mishnaic and Talmudic times and which have come through the Church Fathers into the Christian scholarly tradition.

…The discoveries of Qumran have now induced some scholars to question the frequently used and all too easily accepted idea of “Normative Judaism” and the rabbinic sources as reliable criteria for the essence of Judaism in the 1st century, Consequently it appears to be appropriate once again to examine precisely whether or not the Samaritans, as the first Jewish sect who have no independent traditions and customs, have preserved customs and views which are older than those which the Rabbis of the 2nd century AD (and later) tried to make sacrosanct by passing them off as oral traditions from the time of Moses that had been handed down to them as the trustees of the only and true Israel.

The reason the Samaritan position is not openly studied is as much a fault of the Samaritan priests themselves as it is of the Jews.

God’s Calendar

We need to go back to Genesis 1 to find the basis for God’s Calendar.

Genesis 1:14-19 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: ¹⁵And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. ¹⁶And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. ¹⁷And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, ¹⁸And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. ¹⁹And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. (KJV)

The word for lights here is m’aor (SHD 3974) meaning lightholders or luminaries (Ex. 25:6; 27:20; 35:14). In Genesis 1:3 the text is let it become light. It is not the verb to be (Companion Bible, fn. to v. 3). Thus we are speaking of the precondition of the system for subsequent activities.

Light was not located until the fourth day of the creation, according to the Genesis narrative. This is indicative of a sequence of God’s activity in the creation. The activity of the fourth element of the creation sequence was to establish the lights for the division of night and day and for signs and for seasons and for days and years (Gen. 1:14).

The sequence of the Calendar as established by God in the creation is determined by the heavenly bodies. Thus, the movement and position of the heavenly bodies are the determining factors of the calendar. This will be seen to be developed throughout the Bible and is central to the Law.

Psalm 104:19 He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. (KJV)

The moon is thus the determinate factor and not the sun. The sun is operative for the day only and is a pivot for the beginning of the year from the equinox.

The Day

It is noted also that the evening and the morning constitute the day. The evening precedes the morning or day. The day is thus determined from dark the previous evening to dark or the End of Evening Nautical Twilight (EENT) of that day.

Leviticus 23:32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath. (KJV)

This view, that the day began at evening after the sun had set, was continuously observed even among the Jews at the time of the Mishnah. It was the normal method of determining the day for most nations and was the practice among the English-speaking people until around the beginning of the nineteenth century (see below).

Mishnah:

(Besah 2:1) On a festival which coincided with the eve of the Sabbath [Friday] a person should not do cooking to begin with on the festival day. [Friday] But he prepares food for the festival day, and if he leaves something over, he has it left over for use on the Sabbath. And he prepares a cooked dish on the eve of the festival day [Thursday] and relies on it (to prepare food on Friday) for the Sabbath as well.

(2-2) If a festival day coincided with the day after the Sabbath [Sunday] the house of Shammai say, “They immerse everything before the Sabbath”. And the house of Hillel say, “Utensils are to be immersed before the Sabbath. But man may immerse on the Sabbath itself.”

(Shabbat 15:3) They fold up clothing even four or five times. And they spread beds on the night of the Sabbath for use on the Sabbath, but not on the Sabbath for use after the Sabbath. D. R. Ishmael says, “They fold clothes and lay out beds on the Day of Atonement for the Sabbath”.

This text shows Atonement also fell on a Friday when the Mishnah was compiled.

(Sukkah 5:7) Three times a year all the priestly watches shared equally in the offerings of the feasts and in the division of the Show Bread. At Pentecost they would say to him, “Here you have unleavened bread, here is leavened bread for you”. The priestly watch whose time of service is scheduled for that week is the one which offers the daily whole offerings, the offerings brought by reason of vows and freewill offerings, and the other public offerings. And it offers everything. On a festival day which comes next to a Sabbath, whether before or after it, all of the priestly watches were equal in the division of the Show Bread.

Therefore, back-to-back Sabbaths were normal.

The narrative of the shipwreck of Paul shows that the day began at evening, and night was followed by the day in the twenty-four hour sequence. We also see from this text that the day did not begin at midnight in the first century either.

Acts 27:27-33 But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; ²⁸And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. ²⁹Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day. ³⁰And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, ³¹Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. ³²Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. ³³And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. (KJV)

The change to a midnight start for the day was a later invention of the Roman Church and had nothing to do with the earlier period. It appears that with the exception of the Italians, all the nations all had the same or similar practice for the start of the day.

The writings of the text of the Bible from the time of Moses show that the day was understood to begin at evening and, as we have seen, Atonement was kept from sunset to sunset (Lev. 23:32), being when the sun has set and it is dark or EENT. Jews presently keep from sunset to dark when they end the fast. Thus there are approximately 25 hours in that day.

This practice was kept intact, as we see with the restoration under Nehemiah, whereby the Sabbath was protected by the closing of the gates of the city from evening to evening.

Nehemiah 13:19 And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day. (KJV)

This text shows that it began to be dark before the Sabbath. The verb used is tsalal (SHD 6752) and is:

…connected with tsel, ‘shadow’ and signifies ‘when the gates began to have shadows on them’ or ‘to cast long shadows’ (cf. Soncino n. to v. 19)

This explanation offered in the Soncino is important to the traditions in placing the time forward to sunset. It is understood as being at ‘approaching dark’ (cf. SHD 6751 and 6752).

The long shadows are in the late afternoon at dusk, just before dark. We might conclude from this text that the Sabbath actually began when it was dark. Thus the day begins at what we term Evening Nautical Twilight, when it becomes dark. A rabbinical distinction was that the day began when it became impossible to distinguish the colour of red or blue thread. This failure of light is at the End of Evening Nautical Twilight (EENT). The three twilights are: 1) Civil Twilight, which ends when the sun is six degrees from the horizon and which is used for streetlights; 2) End Evening Nautical Twilight (EENT) when the sun is at twelve degrees below the horizon; and 3) End Astronomical Twilight when the sun is at eighteen degrees below the horizon. At EENT it is dark. At BENT (Begin Evening Nautical Twilight) it is beginning to be dark at the horizon.

All nations, including ancient Israel and the tribes of Judah began the day at night and followed night with the day, counting by the nights. This was so with the Germans and the Teutons generally. The following quote from John Brady (Clavis Calendaria I-II, London, 1812, p. 98) says:

Different nations have varied, and even still disagree, in the periods of commencing their diurnal computation. The Turks and Mahometans reckon from evening twilight; while the Italians, not only begin their first hour at sunset, but count out the twenty four hours without any remission, and not twice 12, as is practiced in this country and in Europe in general, some part of Germany excepted, where they also count by the twenty four hours which they call “Italian hours.” …. though as the ecclesiastical day throughout Italy begins at midnight, and the rites of the Roman church are in all cases regulated by that custom, it is more particularly remarkable, that the civil day should be permitted to differ in its period of commencement, and thus to stand at variance with the usage not only of almost all the rest of Europe, but of their own ancestors; especially as by the variation of sun-setting, which governs the civil day,…..

Thus we see that in 1812 in the time of Napoleon and his army’s retreat from Moscow, the day still began and ended at evening twilight in Islam and elsewhere, or at sunset among the Italians. The beginning of the day at midnight in 1812 was still the aberration of the Roman Catholic Church and it was from that source that it entered Europe and the West. It is an ecclesiastical device with no biblical sanction. Moreover, Christ speaks of the 12-hour day and the night, which has come to be measured as twenty-four hours, as it was by the Italians and astronomers. No one ever began the day at dawn, other than as the second twelve-hour period. The twenty-four-hour day beginning at midnight is a later moving of the standardisation of clocks to accord with the timings of the Roman ecclesiastical traditions. The standardisation of time could have just as easily (and should have been) effected from the time of dawn and dark at the equinox with the first hours after sunset (being what we term 6 p.m.) as 1 a.s. instead of 7 p.m. Five p.m. would have remained the eleventh hour, as it was for almost six thousand years. Seven a.m. should then be correctly 1 a.m. In a twenty-four hour clock it would be 1300 hours. This would have accorded with Christ’s teaching, and will be introduced again from Jerusalem from the Restoration.

The reason the ecclesiastical sequences were from midnight was its importance to fasting, as they had a different fasting practice to that of the Bible and the early Church. Brady says that the term noon originally meant the ninth hour. Counting from 6 a.m., it was 3 p.m. “at which time the song was, by ancient church regulation, always sung.” (ibid., p. 99). Noon is now midday, either because the monks always broke fast, or because the common dinner hour was midday (see ibid.). We should bear this fact in mind also when reading earlier writings that mention noon. The word luncheon is derived from the erroneous spelling of the word nuncheon or noon song.

At no time in history has the description in Daniel 7:25 fitted a society and people more than in Europe from the nineteenth century to the present. It started from Rome in the second century and is rapidly now coming to its conclusion.

The term day is derived from the Saxon Dæg. The word appears related to the Roman Dies or Diis. The ancients gave the names of the planets to the days, which they termed Dii or gods (ibid., p. 100) and the term was allotted to the twenty-four hour rotation of the Earth.

Among the Saxons, the Scriptures were made available in the Saxon tongue by King Athelstan (in ca. 940) who imposed fines for traffic on Sunday as it had been deemed to have replaced the Sabbath in the Roman system from the fourth century. The Sunday and Easter system had been imposed on Britain through the power of the Saxons from the Synod of Whitby in 664 CE. Until then, most of Britain was Quartodeciman Sabbatarians. (cf. the paper The Quartodeciman Disputes (No. 277)). Edgar (ca. 960) declared that the day should be kept holy from 3 p.m. on Saturday to Monday at day-break (cf. Brady, ibid., pp. 103-104). Thus the preparation time on the Friday was transferred to the Saturday and an entirely new period of an extra twelve hours had been added again. This is the only known aberration of the extended day ending at dawn (aside from the worship of Ra in Egypt).

The term day is generally understood in two ways, both as a twelve-hour and a twenty-four hour period. The latter period came to be called by the astronomers of the modern or industrial era, a Nycthemeron. However, the ancients could be excused for simply using the term day to apply to both. Such certainly was the term when the Bible was translated and such is the common usage today (cf. Brady, p. 97). Genesis 1:5 is held to say …and the evening and the morning were the first day. This rendering should simply read Day One or Day the First. The Soncino renders this text regarding the First Day as evening and morning, one day (cf. Soncino Chumash, p. 2). The distinction is based on Rashi’s interpretation, deducing that God was alone on this day as The One, creating the other heavenly Beings on the Second day. It does not stand up to scrutiny in the Soncino text itself and is not interpreted that way by any other authority (cf. Green’s Interlinear Bible). Rashi is wrong and introduces unnecessary further error in relation to Genesis 1:1-2.

The words evening (‘ereb (SHD 6153), cf. ‘arab: to mingle) and morning (boker (1242), cf. bakker: to search or examine) convey the opposites of day and night. ‘Ereb denoting the mingling of light from twilight and boker denoting the clear light of day, “being the time when it is possible to distinguish the exact quality which characterises it” (ibid.).

The word day here is the term yôwm (SHD 3117), which is from an unused root meaning to be hot; it means a day and as the warm hours. It is used, as Strong says, to signify the periods either literally, from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next, or figuratively, as a space of time defined by an associated term and often used adverbially thus representing an age. To suggest that its usage is confined to the daylight hours only is absurd.

The terms used to confine the time to daylight hours only are: yôwmâm (SHD 3119), meaning daily or in daylight (cf. Deut. 28:66; Josh. 1:8; etc.); or shachar (SHD 7837), meaning early light, when the sun rises (cf. Josh. 6:15).

Mochorath (SHD 4283) or morrow is also used to indicate the next day or tomorrow (cf. 1Sam. 30:17; Jon. 4:7).

Boqer or boker (SHD 1242) when used literally from morning to morning is used to mean from day to day (cf. Jdg. 16:2; 19:26; 2Sam. 13:4), and is perhaps a cause of confusion to some if taken in isolation.

Thus we see from the details that at least from the time of Moses in the creation narrative, the term day was used to encompass both evening and morning as one day, or a twenty-four hour period. There is no other rational way of examining this argument.

We saw in Acts 27 that Paul had the same understanding we see in Nehemiah, and as we saw in the instruction to Moses, regarding Atonement, as well as the same understanding we see was in use up until the nineteenth century. It is only recently that times and the Law have been changed to the extent of affecting the operation of the day.

The Week

The word for week in Hebrew is derived from the word shabuwa or shabua (SHD 7620). This word is derived from the word shaba’ (SHD 7650) meaning to be complete. This is a prime root, which is derived from and used in the sense of sheba or shibah (7651). This word is the prime cardinal number as seven as the sacred full one. Hence, the term shaba’ (7650) means to seven one’s self, that is, to swear or take an oath.

The word for week is thus based on or derived from the sacred number of days making up the seven. The Sabbath is thus inextricably linked to the linguistic roots for seven and completeness. The word for week occurs in Genesis 29:27-28 and Daniel 9:27. It means literally to be sevened. Hence, it is a week (seven days) or a period of seven years.

The word for week in the New Testament is a Greek word of Hebrew origin – namely Sabbaton (SGD 4521, from Shabbath (7676)). It is the concept of a se’nnight or the interval between two Sabbaths.

The period of the week is also determined from a phrase meaning complete or perfect Sabbath. This phrase is present in the law on Pentecost.

Leviticus 23:15-21 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: ¹⁶Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. ¹⁷Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. ¹⁸And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD. ¹⁹Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. ²⁰And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. ²¹And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. (KJV)

The period of fifty days that commenced after the weekly Sabbath in the Feast of Unleavened Bread has seven perfect or complete Sabbaths. This was termed the Feast of Weeks from the Old Testament texts (Ex. 34:22; Deut. 16:10,16; 2Chr. 8:13). The same word shabua (7620) is used. Pentecost is derived from the term to count fifty. The term for perfect, as in perfect Sabbaths is tamiym (SHD 8549) meaning entire. Used as a noun it means integrity or truth – hence, without blemish, complete or full. Thus, fifty days of Pentecost contains seven complete and perfect or unblemished weeks. This commences from the day after the weekly Sabbath and finishes on the day after the weekly Sabbath – namely, a Sunday. Pentecost thus cannot fall on Sivan 6 as the count is breached and there are not seven perfect or unblemished weeks or Sabbaths.

The word for Sabbath (SHD 7676) is different from that used for the Feast-day Sabbaths, which are termed Shabbathown (SHD 7677). This term applies to all the Feast Holy Days with the meaning of a Sabbatism or Holy Day, except for the Day of Atonement, which is referred to as a Shabbath shabbathown. The meaning thus duplicates or emphasises the concept of a very Holy Day. The terms involved in the above text in Leviticus in the count to Pentecost are Sabbath and not shabbathown and, hence, it is absolutely clear from the distinctions made in the chapter that the weekly Sabbaths are involved and not any of the Holy Days; and that the Hillel or modern Jewish calendar is in error by observing Sivan 6. The conflict is evident in the Mishnah that shows the Pharisees had introduced the Sivan 6 Pentecost, which could and did fall next to a Sabbath at that time. In the Temple system and with the Samaritans, Pentecost had always been on the First day of the week or Sunday.

(Hagigah 2:4) Pentecost which coincided with a Friday- The House of Shammai say, “The day of slaughtering [the whole offering brought in fulfilment of the requirements of appearing before the Lord] is on the day after the Sabbath”. And the House of Hillel say, “The day of slaughtering [the whole offering] is not after the Sabbath”. But they concur that if it coincided with the Sabbath, the day of slaughtering [the whole offering] is after the Sabbath. And the high priest does not put on his garments. And they are permitted to conduct a lamentation or to hold a fast, so as not to affirm the opinion of those who say, The date of Pentecost [must always fall] after the Sabbath [on Sunday].

In support of the Sivan 6 Pentecost argument, resort is made by some to the Septuagint (LXX). That version, however, although the standard text of the early Church, was rejected by rabbinical Judaism from Jamnia after the destruction of the Temple and dispersion. The OT text was even significantly altered to support rabbinical Judaism at that time and became the Masoretic Text. This whole issue of Pentecost in the LXX has been examined in the paper The Omer Count to Pentecost (No. 173). The arguments constructed around this text for Sivan 6 are in any case false.

Pentecost was kept on a Sunday during the Temple period by both the Temple priesthood and the Samaritans. F.F. Bruce says in The Illustrated Bible Dictionary (J. D. Douglas & N. Hillyer, editors, IVP, 1980; art. ‘Calendar’, Vol. 1, p. 225):

In general, the Jewish calendar in NT times (at least before AD 70) followed the Sadducean reckoning, since it was by that reckoning that the Temple services were regulated. Thus the day of Pentecost was reckoned as the fiftieth day after the presentation of the first harvested sheaf of barley, i.e., the fiftieth day (inclusive) from the first Sunday after Passover (cf. Lv. 23:15f.); hence it always fell on a Sunday, as it does in the Christian calendar. The Pharisaic reckoning, which became standard after AD 70, interpreted ‘sabbath’ in Lv. 23:15 as the festival day of Unleavened Bread and not the weekly sabbath; in that case Pentecost always fell on the same day of the month [Sivan 6].

The Samaritans and the Church have not changed in their practice in relation to Pentecost since the first century. Only Judaism changed its observations and that was done to preserve its introduced traditions. The Trinitarian church affected the week on which Pentecost fell by its manipulation of the date of Easter, but it was always on a Sunday as it had been in the Temple period, and since the time of the Assyrian captivity, and before that to the time of Moses. The Samaritan practices come from before the sack of the First Temple and the captivity of Judah in 587 BCE and therefore reflect more accurately the practices in the early First Temple period. The traditions were gradually introduced into Judah and the system of the Pharisees from the Babylonian captivity and later. They did not have any effect in the Temple practice right up until the period of its fall and destruction.

The Seven-Day Week

The concept of the seven-day week is determined from Exodus 20:8-11.

Exodus 20:8-11Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: ¹⁰But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: ¹¹For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (KJV)

The week is thus a regulated and mandatory ordinance established with the focus on the Sabbath or seventh day of the week, which is and always has been, the day understood as Saturday. The term in English is derived from the Saxon Seator (or also seemingly Crodo, cf. Brady), which is usually associated with the Roman deity Saturn (Brady, pp. 122-123). This day is named within the languages of many people as the Sabbath or in terms derived from that word. Samuele Bacchiocchi develops this whole history (From Sabbath to Sunday, Pontifical Gregorian University Press, Rome, 1977).

The Month

The word month is derived from the word for moon in the ancient root language, which became English. The Hebrew word is chadash or chodesh (SHD 2320) meaning a New Moon – hence, it means a month. The New Moon is thus the means of determining the start of the month. The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon says of this word (p. 294) that it means New Moon or Month …“1. new moon as day, time of the new moon as a religious festival. 2. month as beginning with the New Moon”. There is no doubt that historically the month began with the New Moon. The moon was also always a festival in the Temple period and the High Priest entered the Temple on this day as well as the Sabbath.

The word is related to châdar (SHD 2314), to surround or enclose, to conceal or curtain. In its note on Strong’s 2314, the Lexicon continues: “(as something surrounding) [from] II. conceal behind a curtain, conceal, confine. IV. conceal oneself, also abide, stay or remain behind also as sheathing a sword” (p. 294).

The sense of the basis of the term is clearly that of the full dark of the New Moon and not a later crescent. The matter of the crescent moon is examined in the paper The Golden Calf (No. 222).

Another word for month is yerach (SHD 3391) (1Kgs. 6:37-38; 8:2; 2Kgs. 15:13; Zech. 11:8). This is from an unused root of uncertain significance and means a lunation, i.e. a month or moon. Another word is the Chaldean yerach (SHD 3393), which corresponds to SHD 3391 (Ezra 6:15).

The word for moon when used in the sense of sun and moon is SHD 3394 or SHD 3391. It can be SHD 3842 (Isa. 24:23; 30:26). The word for New Moon (SHD 2320) is translated as month in the English. The exceptions make it evident that a specific day is being indicated (1Sam. 20:5,18,24; 2Kgs. 4:23; Ps. 81:3; Isa. 66:23; Ezek. 46:1,6; Amos 8:5). The months are thus the first, second, third etc. New Moon.

The New Moon is thus the central or determining point of the month. It forms the basis of calculation of the periods within a month. This is so with all of the Holy Days, not the least of which are the New Moons themselves (see the papers The New Moons (No. 125); The New Moons of Israel (No. 132); and also The Harvests of God, the New Moon Sacrifices, and the 144,000 (No. 120)). The comments on the months made in the paper The New Moons of Israel (No. 132) are re-examined below to show the sequence and significance of their usage.

The Saxon word Almanac appears to be derived from the Aramaic words al and manach meaning the counting. Verstigan, being the only exception, says however it came from al mon aght, i.e. al mon heed or the heeding of the moons. Certainly the concept of days beginning and ending at evening sunset or twilight is consistent with this Eastern origin (cf. Brady, pp. 42-43). The original almanacs were lunar cycle calendars, carved on four wooden pieces, based on 30 and 29-day sequences corresponding to the duration of the moon determining the conjunctions and full moons. The alternating day sequence was also the Arabic practice. A copy of an original Saxon Almanac is at Brady (op. cit., Vol. 1, between pp. 42-43). A very ancient one is in St Johns College, Cambridge, England.

Months of the Year

The moon is also symbolic because it is in phases. The New Moon represents the beginning of the activity of each cycle. There are twelve months in the year (apart from intercalation) (1Kgs. 4:7; 1Chr. 27:1-15). They are generally reckoned to have a length of 30 days and that is the way they are referred to prophetically (Gen. 7:11; 8:3-4; Num. 20:29; Deut. 21:13; 34:8; Est. 4:11; Dan. 6:7-13).

The month of the Passover, which is Nisan or Abib, is specifically commanded by the Lord to be the beginning of the year (see also Num. 9:1-3; 33:3; Josh. 4:19; Ezek. 45:18,21). This beginning symbolises the redemption of the Israel of God from the world’s system (Gal. 1:4; Rev. 14:4).

Abib is determined from the New Moon nearest to the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere, which begins the summer season. The autumnal equinox in the northern hemisphere begins the winter season. These are the two seasons mentioned by the Bible (Gen. 8:22; Ps. 74:17). The calculation is well understood:

The observation of the autumnal equinox, i.e., ‘the going out of the year’ (see Ex. 23:16), and of the spring or vernal equinox, called ‘the return of the year’ (1 Ki. 20:26; 2 Ch. 36:10 AV), was important for controlling the calendar and consequently the festivals. Thus the year began with the new moon nearest the vernal equinox when the sun was in Aries (Jos., Ant. 3.201 [better to see Ant. (Antiquities of the Jews) III.x.5]), and the Passover on the fourteenth day of Nisan coincided with the first full moon (Ex. 12:2-6). (The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, J D Douglas & N Hillyer, editors, IVP, 1980; art. ‘Calendar’, Vol. 1, p. 223).

The months are numbered in sequence so that the year might be identified and not later confused (Ex. 12:2; 13:4; 2Chr. 30:2; Neh. 8:2). The months and the courses of the priests are all listed in 1Chronicles 27:1-15. The New Moons were listed in the days of worship with the Sabbath and Holy Days in Numbers 28 and 29 (esp. Num. 28:1-2,11,14).

The method of determining the First month of the year (called Nisan or Abib) is that the Passover period on 14 and 15 Nisan must fall after the equinox. Thus, the preparation day of the Fourteenth may fall on the equinox but the Fifteenth must fall after the equinox. These were the two governing rules until the Hillel revision. Schürer notes the rule regarding the Passover in his Appendix on the Calendar.

The months were normally numbered and not all months are listed by name in the Scriptures. The months of the year are:

Nisan (March-April) (or Abib: Canaanite)
Iyyar (April-May) (or Ziv: Canaanite)
Sivan (May-June)
Tammuz (June-July)
Ab (July-August)
Elul (August-September)
Tishri (September-October) (or Ethanim: Canaanite)
Marcheshvan (October-November) (or Bul: Canaanite)
Chislev (November-December)
Tebeth (December-January)
Shebat (January-February)
Adar (February-March)

The Babylonian equivalents are:

Nisanu: the month of sacrifice
Ayaru: the procession month
Simanu: the fixed season or time of brick making
Du-uzu: the month of Tammuz the god of fertility
Abu: the month of torches
Elulu or Ululu: the month of purification
Teshritu: the month of beginning
Arah-samna: the eighth month
Kislimu: of uncertain meaning
Tebitu: the month of plunging (into water)
Shabatu: the month of storms and rain
Adaru: the month of the threshing floor.

The cycle of twelve lunar months (354¼ days) falls short of the solar year (365¼ days). Because the spring Passover-Mazzoth festival, which begins the cycle of agricultural feasts, needed to be kept at a set time in the year, it is obvious why the intercalary month is placed in Adar at the end of the year.

The Passover must coincide with the first harvest (which follows the equinox) and thus the commencement of the year is dependent upon the location of the moon for that period in which the barley harvest begins to occur.

Abib means green ears and the greens ears were cut and roasted, not being yet at the ‘white of harvest’. The first of the green ear harvest was cut and waved as the Wave Sheaf, thereby commencing the omer count to Pentecost. The sequence in Joshua was that they took the Holy Land and then ate of the old corn on the morning after the Passover, i.e. on the morning of the Fifteenth of the First month and the manna ceased (Josh. 5:11). The green ears are not mentioned because they roasted the new ears of Abib after the Wave Sheaf, which had not happened as yet. Hence, only the old corn is mentioned as being consumed. The Wave Sheaf symbolised Messiah who was the first-begotten from the dead.

The spiritual symbolism is paramount. The Feasts are dependent upon the New Moons and not the reverse. The name of the intercalary month is WeAdar (or and Adar) according to M. Ned VIII.5 (see Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. 1, p. 487). The rabbinical calculations show seven out of every nineteen years have an extra month, which we term Adar II.

As we observed, the months are determined by the New Moons and the entire Plan of Salvation is demonstrated from each New Moon through the calculation of the Feasts and their demonstration in the cycle of the actual physical harvests. The year is based on a symbolic or prophetic year of 360 days, being twelve months of 30 days (see the paper The Harvests of God, the New Moon Sacrifices, and the 144,000 (No. 120) for the implications for the Feasts and the 144,000); this is known as a time. This period can also be extended prophetically, on a year-for-a-day basis, to 360 years. Seven times is 2,520 years, with half that period (or 1,260 years) being the time, times and half a time of Daniel 12:7.

It is noted from the paper Moses and the Gods of Egypt (No. 105) that God dealt with the Egyptian system and its gods through the Exodus. God dealt with the Babylonian system through the proper establishment of the Calendar and the Church. It should be noted that the Babylonian system began the year from the month of beginnings, Teshritu or Tishri. From this month Messiah will establish the New Beginning, which is symbolised by the Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles.

Tishri is determined by the New Moon, which is the Feast of Trumpets. It was pointed out in the paper The New Moons of Israel (No. 132) that the month of beginnings was made the Seventh moon. It was noted there that this sequence represented the establishment under Messiah of the seven phases of the Seven Churches. The significance is explained in the papers on the New Moons. The explanation of the symbolism of the Feasts is repeated (requoted below from The New Moons (No. 125):

The year was made to commence in the month of sacrifice which represented the Passover sacrifice of Messiah. This month commenced the harvest which was also the first of the harvest sequence, that is, the barley harvest. God then carried on the process of harvests through each of the phases which are three harvest periods. These are the Passover and Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles or Ingathering. The Feast of Weeks symbolises the harvest of the Church before the return of Messiah. This is an ongoing process.

Thus Pentecost is a commencement of a sequence which follows through five moons from Sivan to Tishri, even though there are seven in the sequence from Nisan to Tishri. These five are the stones David drew from the brook (see the paper David and Goliath (No. 126)). Sardis and Laodicea are eliminated. Sivan commences the brick making of the Temple of God. The sequence then involves rebirth (Du-uzu: Tammuz), the torches (Abu: Ab) or candles of the Church and the purification (Elulu: Elul) of the elect. Hence the months from Simanu (Sivan) to Teshritu (Tishri) are accounted for in Christian symbolism thus eliminating the Babylonian. The torching of 9-10 Ab was allowed because of the idolatry of Israel to Babylonian practice.

The months are twelve in all, with a thirteenth month (Adar II) intercalated seven times every nineteen years. The nineteen years mark the complete cycle. The moons themselves determine this period as they rotate through the seasons. The festival sacrifices total 72 throughout the year, and comprise: fifty-two Sabbaths, seven Holy Days, plus twelve New Moons and the Wave-Sheaf Offering. Trumpets is of course a double sacrifice, being both a New Moon and a Feast (Num. 29:1-6).

The sacrifice of the Wave Sheaf, when coupled with the Feasts and New Moons, has a great significance, which was dealt with in the paper The Harvests of God, the New Moon Sacrifices, and the 144,000 (No. 120). The relationship of the intercalary months have a relationship to the administration of God within Israel and also in the celestial system, as noted from the paper The New Moons of Israel (No. 132). All of the activities of God in the creation are dealt with in symbols that are reflected not only in the movement of the heavens but also the allocation of the organisation and responsibility of Israel. Israel, as both a nation and the Church within the covenant, is predicated on those relationships (see the paper The Covenant of God (No. 152)).

The quote from paper No. 125 continues:

The relationship is predicated on the function of the intercalary month as it occurs with the twelve normal months. Israel represents this system through the tribes. Israel has twelve tribes. These are, from the north: Dan, Asher Napthali, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Reuben Simeon, Gad, Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin (see Num. 10:11; cf. Ezek. 1:4 ff.). The tribe of Levi is centred around the tabernacle. Thus there are twelve tribes but Joseph has the birthright and is effectively divided into two shares to make twelve tribes with the tribe of Levi relinquishing its share to perform the function of the priesthood. Thus the blueprint for the function of physical Israel was set in the stars at the creation. Adar II represents the priesthood as the thirteenth month and tribe. This month occurs seven times in a cycle.

This cycle represents the seven spirits of God as they perform their duties under the angels of the seven Churches. This problem cannot be solved or understood without the understanding of the New Moons.

The New Moons were central to the system of worship as laid down in the Hebrew calendar. They needed to be kept correctly and their understanding was central to the understanding of the Plan of Salvation. The Israelite system was apostate and was undermined continually. It had to be restored each time by an appointed delegate of God. There were many restorations and many breakdowns in the determination of the system.

It can be seen that the New Moon was the central point of calculation for the religious calendar. This fell into misuse many times. The last and continuous time for Judah was under Rabbi Hillel II in 358 CE, where the Sabbaths had become so cumbersome through introduced tradition that the whole system of calculation had to be changed to make it possible to keep the traditions established by the Pharisees. The observations were made to control the New Moons so that the traditions could be kept. In order to control the people who might otherwise contest the correct declaration of the New Moon, other restrictions were implemented, such as who might be a reliable witness for the New Moon. Women were eliminated as witnesses and so too were categories of people who might be independent observers, such as pigeon keepers (see Mishnah for categories).

Let us look at the comments on the historical position from the text of the paper The New Moons (No. 125):

General Historical Position

The New Moon Festival, known to the Jews as Rosh Hodesh, occurred on the first of the month, on the appearance of the first phase of the moon (Hayyim Schauss The Jewish Festivals: History and Observance, tr. Samuel Jaffe, Schocken Books, New York, 1938, p. 275). It is thus tied to the appearance of the New Moon.

There was a time when Rosh Chodesh was a major festival, much more important than the weekly Sabbath…One reason for its importance resided in the fact that the date of all the Jewish Festivals depended upon the New Moon (ibid., p. 274).

This contention is supposition. The Bible indicates it was as important but not more so than the Sabbath. It was more important than the feasts as we will see.

The Bible clearly equates the New Moon with the festivals (Num. 10:10). The Festival of the New Moon was a feast day and it was celebrated on the day after the New Moon was sighted (New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 10, McGraw Hill, NY, 1967, p. 382)

“In early rabbinic times the day of the New Moon was established by the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, after accepting the evidence of eye witnesses who had claimed to see the new moon. Sometimes the rabbis would deliberately postpone Rosh Hodesh so as to prevent the Day of Atonement from falling on a Friday or a Sunday. The permanent calendar was fixed by Hillel II in 358 CE and this provided the exact date of each Rosh Hodesh based on astronomical and mathematical calculations” (The Ency. of Judaism, Geoffery Widoger, Macmillan, NY, 1989, p. 502).

Note this was in early rabbinic times. That is well after the fall of the Temple in 70 CE. Thus the rabbinical manipulation of the New Moon was enshrined in the Hillel calendar. It has no biblical authority.

Here we have evidence of the deliberate postponement prior to the Hillel calendar. Notice we are not dealing with the period of the Second Temple but later early-Rabbinic times. However, the assertions by the New Catholic Encyclopedia regarding the postponement to the next day show an ignorance of the timings regarding the postponements. The New Moon was assumed to develop the crescent from six hours after the conjunction. Thus it was only postponed if the conjunction or full dark New Moon fell after 1200 hours. This rule was established in the postponements. The quote continues:

There is no doubt that the New Moon was anciently at least as important as the Sabbath.

“The New Moon festival anciently stood at least on a level with that of the Sabbath. (J Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Israel, 1885, p. 113).”

The New Moon was definitely holy time, and was celebrated on the day of the determination of the New Moon by conjunction. This was calculated in advance. This fresh beginning was marked by special sacrifices (Num. 28:11-15) over which the trumpets were blown (Num. 10:10; Ps. 81:3). Normal work was not done. The King held special feasts on the New Moon. David makes mention of the significance in 1Samuel 20:5. David would have been missed from the court because his seat at the table would have been empty. They knew well in advance of the impending New Moon.

1Samuel 20:18Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty. (KJV)

The New Moons were thus mandatory gatherings in the Court of Israel, known in advance. This makes a nonsense of any plea for an observation system. David kept the New Moons with the Sabbaths and the Feasts by number, according to the order commanded to them (1Chr. 23:30-31). There was thus a set order from ancient times. Solomon also observed these days. This was an ordinance forever to Israel.

The New Moons are mentioned in precedence over the Feasts.

2Chronicles 2:4 Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel. (KJV)

The New Moons were observed, together with the Sabbaths and set Feasts, by Elisha (2Kgs. 4:23), and by Hezekiah, as it is written in the Law of the Lord (2Chr. 31:3). This practice was continued by Ezra (Ezra 3:5) and Nehemiah (Neh. 10:29-33). It continued up through the time of Christ and the Apostles, and the Calendar, including the New Moons, was observed at Colossae (Col. 2:16). The purpose of the Calendar in the Sabbaths and the New Moons and the set Feasts was so that they would be memorials for Israel before God, and for atonement (Num. 10:10, 33). This ordinance is set in the same sequence and chapters as is the Order of Battle of Israel. The Calendar is thus integral to the Covenant of God and to the purpose of God within the Plan of Salvation.

The New Moon must be treated as a day of worship and assembly, as are the Sabbaths and Feasts (1Sam. 20:5,18; Isa. 66:23; Ezek. 46:1-3). Sacrifice is not the issue, as it was fulfilled in Messiah. Obedience is the issue (Jer. 7:22-24; Heb. 10:1-6).

The quote from paper No. 125 continues:

The New Year on the New Moon of the first month Abib was of special significance (Ps. 81:3-5; cf. The Moon and the New Year (No. 213). The New Moon of the seventh month was especially sanctified (Lev. 23:24-25; Num. 29:1-6). 2Kings 4:23 suggests that both New Moons and Sabbaths were regarded as providing opportunity for consulting the prophets, and Ezekiel marks out the New Moon as a special day of worship (Ezek. 46:1,3).

[Judaica and modern Judaism assert that]: Originally, the New Moon was allegedly not fixed by astronomical calculations, but was solemnly proclaimed after witnesses had testified to the reappearance of the crescent of the moon. The rabbinical authorities hold that on the 30th of each month, the members of the High Court assembled in a courtyard in Jerusalem, named Beit Ya’azek, where they waited to receive the testimony of two reliable witnesses; they then sanctified the New Moon. If the moon’s crescent was not seen on the 30th day, the New Moon was automatically celebrated on the 31st day. To inform the population of the beginning of the month, beacons were kindled on the Mount of Olives and thence over the entire land and in parts of the Diaspora.

[It is then asserted that] Later, however, the Samaritans began to light misleading beacons, and the High Court dispatched messengers to far-removed communities. Those Jews who lived great distances from Jerusalem always celebrated the 30th day of the month as the New Moon. On those occasions when they were informed of its postponement to the 31st day, they also observed this second day as the New Moon (RH 1:3-2:7). By the middle of the fourth century, the sages had established a permanent calendar and the public proclamation of the New Moon was discontinued. A relic of the original practice is, however, retained in the synagogue custom of announcing the New Moon on the Sabbath preceding its celebration (Ency. Judaica, Vol. 12, p. 1039).

This process is evidence of the manipulation of the Calendar by the rabbis. There is never a month that is longer than thirty days – and they knew that fact. Note also John Bowman’s comments regarding the Samaritans and the acceptance of this rabbinical propaganda above. The original system was by calculation according to the conjunction, and the Sadducees and the Samaritans both did the same thing. Note the comment here that later the Samaritans began lighting misleading beacons: Why later? The Samaritans had not changed their system. It has remained the same for well over the twenty-five centuries of independent Judaism, which itself has changed remarkably after the destruction of the Temple. It was Judah that began playing with the calendar based on rabbinical traditions that were not allowed or accepted during the Temple period. The manipulation of the calendar was because the authorities had not developed a precise system for establishing the postponements to protect the traditions. This affected the number of thirty-day months in the year, as we will see later. Such effect became inexplicable and irreconcilable with ancient practice.

The New Moons are not mentioned in Leviticus 23 because that is not a complete list of the days of worship of Israel and the Sacred Calendar. Numbers 28 and 29 show the only complete list of the days of worship. The Wave-Sheaf Offering is included in Leviticus 23 even though it is not a Holy Day, because it is integral to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and it is the primary element of the Harvest of God. The Wave-Sheaf Offering must be kept as well as the Feasts (cf. the paper The Wave Sheaf Offering (No. 106b).

It can be seen from history that the modern Jewish calendar had not begun to be fixed until the middle of the fourth century, according to Jewish authority. This was then further manipulated and changed up until the eleventh century. The precise calculation of the New Moon removes any uncertainty in the calculation, or the international celebration of the New Moon.

Hence, the ancient rabbinical Jewish procedure was that, when the New Moon cannot be observed on the day in which it falls (i.e. that it falls within daylight hours), it is observed on the following day. This is really a scam because the New Moon falls into this category as a rule. That is also the early post-Temple rule introduced rule for the observance of the New Moon. It has nothing to do with the calculation of the Molad of Tishri, as established from the fourth century under Hillel II. Recently, it has degenerated further, as was explained in the paper The New Moons (No. 125).

Continuing with the quote:

It became fashionable with the advent of Sociology and the Study of Developing Religions to treat the biblical requirements for the Sabbaths and New Moons as competing elements for the loyalties of the Hebrew peoples. The New Moons being treated as the vestigial remnants of the cult of the worship of the Moon God. Schauss was of this view when he wrote The Jewish Festivals (p. 274). He also treats the Pentateuch as being written in two parts, the older part being written before the Babylonian exile the later part after the return. He claims that the older part has no mention of the festival. He draws this conclusion from the fact that the New Moons are not mentioned in Exodus 23:14-19; 34:17-26; Deuteronomy 16, nor in Leviticus 23. He thus deduces that the book of Numbers must be a later part. He advanced no evidence for this conjecture. That is the sort of argument typical of modern apologists. The real reason for this position is that the return from the exile did not effect a full restoration.

“After the return from the Babylonian exile a compromise was reached; Rosh Chodesh was not recognised as a full festival, during which labour was forbidden, but special sacrifices were arranged on that day in the Temple.

To this day Jews perform a special ritual to welcome the new month: there is a special prayer in the synagogue on the sabbath before the New Moon, and there is a ceremony sanctifying the New Moon by a special benediction to be recited in the open air when the New Moon appears (Schauss, p. 274).”

It came to be taken for granted that the decline had occurred yet the explanation could not be fully given. An example is seen in the following references from The Hebrew Concept of Time and the Effect on the Development of the Sabbath, by Diana R. Engel, The American University, Washington, 1976.

“No trading took place on the day of the new moon (the day after the first crescent appeared in the sky). The offerings for the new moon, in fact exceeded those for the Sabbath (Num. 28:11-5; Ezek. 46:4-7). However the religious importance of the new moon declined while that of the Sabbath increased (pp. 69-70).”

Note here also that Engel has assumed that the first crescent was held as the sighting, and that the day after the first crescent was sighted is further assumed. This places a series of postponements into the New Moon. No evidence is cited for this conjecture. The quote is continued from paper No. 125.

Further example of the inexplicability of the decline is seen from Widoger.

“It is not clear when or how the New Moon lost its festive character. This had happened by the time the Jews returned from exile at the end of the sixth century BCE. It was no longer a full holiday, but a semi-holiday, like Hol ha-Mo’ed (the intermediate, working days of Passover and Sukkot) when the rabbis discouraged all but necessary work and women were to have a holiday from their sewing and weaving. More stringent economic conditions were probably the reason for the downgrading of the New Moon, particularly since there were no religious or historical reasons for stopping work on that day. In the course of time, even this minor holiday status disappeared and it became a normal working day like any other, except for certain liturgical variations” (Widoger, op. cit., p. 502).

Yet the Jewish people did keep the New Moons as did the Church. The general populace was however spasmodic and looked to trade as they also did with the Sabbaths and the Feasts as we know.

“When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain?

And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale. (Amos 8:5)”

To the Jews the Sabbath became the most important day in the year. In fact Diana Engel says that the Sabbath day became:

“more than just another day or another commandment. It epitomised for them much of what they believed in and stood for. … It is impossible to overemphasize how much the Sabbath meant to Israel, how they looked forward to it and glorified it “(p. 83).

But they did not really understand it! They did not understand the spiritual significance of the Sabbath as they did not understand the New Moons. The New Moon had to be reduced in importance by rabbinical Judaism, because it threatened the postponement system itself. It could not be removed completely as the Bible is too clear on the subject and thus had to be reduced in importance, so the false calendar could be introduced.

According to The Lion Handbook of the Bible (eds. D & P Alexander, Lion Publishing, 1984)

“The Orthodox Jewish Calendar is of twelve months beginning with each new moon (visible crescent)” (p. 112).

No evidence is cited for this statement (visible crescent). Most Judaisers and seemingly a large amount of twentieth century scholarship, contrary to the evidence we have and their own practice and common sense, looks to the New Moon as a crescent. That was never the case. The Samaritan calendar that is still in existence today proves this to be false.

“The second Hebrew term for month, hodesh, properly means the ‘newness’ of the lunar crescent.” (Encyc. Brit., 15th edition, Vol. 15, p. 465).

As we have seen, the definition of the term chodesh does not have anything to do with the lunar crescent. The lunar crescent is another system of worship addressed to the Sin and Baal/Ashtoreth system and human sacrifice (cf. the papers The Golden Calf (No. 222) and The Origins of Christmas and Easter (No. 235)). Its linguistic base means to be concealed. The Britannica continues this (only partially true) statement, which is contrary to the Hebrew concept conveyed in the symbolism of the words.

The quote continues:

“In the religious calendar, the commencement of the month was determined by the observation of the crescent new moon, and the date of Passover was tied in with the ripening of barley” (ibid.).

“… the first crescent is thus the rebirth or replacement of the old by a new moon (ibid., p. 573).”

About 344 CE and certainly with the Hillel calendar of 358, the visible observation of the New Moon was supplanted by secret astronomical calculations. Modern tables ensure absolute and accurate placement.

“The (Jewish) calendar is thus schematic and independent of the true New Moon. (Encyc. Brit., op. cit., p. 466)”.

(requoted from W. E. Cox The New Moons (No. 125), Christian Churches of God, 1995, 1999).

The Jewish calendar is thus contrary to the intention of the biblical texts and Laws. It is obvious that the Jewish or Hillel calendar, being acknowledged to be independent of the true New Moons, cannot accurately reflect the Laws of God, which make no provision for the alteration of the Sabbaths, or their removal from the true New Moon. The conjecture of modern scholarship that the New Moon was viewed as a crescent appears to rest on a completely speculative foundation, in ignorance of the known practices of the Samaritans and Sadducees, and contrary to the rules of postponement themselves. A later rule appeared to be that the crescent must develop from the New Moon within the day on which it appeared; hence, the 1200-hours rule of the postponements. The crescent was tied to the worship of the moon god Sin and is not a scriptural practice. Our word sin is itself derived from the ancient practices as viewed from the Hebrew and scriptural position. Our way of calculating the New Moon is according to the phasis and has never changed following the ancient Samaritan practice. That of itself should be persuasive evidence. It is modern Judaism that is in a state of perpetual sin, led there by its rabbis.

Point of calculation

The New Moon is a precise astronomical event which is perfectly predictable. The event can occur on different days because of the rotation of the Earth. The determination of the New Moon, therefore, must be determined from the time in which it occurs in Jerusalem to ensure the uniformity of religious worship throughout the world, given increased communication.

The determination of the New Moon in Jerusalem is based upon the Scriptures that place Jerusalem as the Throne of the Lord (Jer. 3:17), the centre of the Law and the point from which it will issue under Messiah (Isa. 2:3) and through the waters of the Spirit (Zech. 8:22; 14:8-21). God has placed His Name there for ever (2Chr. 33:4).

This determination might place Australia in a position where it is in advance of the full-time structure in Jerusalem and elsewhere; it is nevertheless necessary for the implementation of a coherent world calendar. The early pre-Hillel postponement rule, which ties the New Moon to the crescent after six hours (hence postponed if it occurs after 1200 hours), minimises the effect of this problem. However, there is no authority for that and it is an administrative decision.

The biblical position

The biblical requirement for the New Moons was examined in the paper The New Moons (No. 125). The position is restated.1

The feast of the New Moon is one of the Feasts of the Lord. It is listed at Numbers 10:10.

“Numbers 10:10 Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God. (KJV)”

The sacrifices were fulfilled in Christ. The Feasts or Sabbaths themselves were not eliminated.

The offerings required were altered in their necessity to that of spiritual offerings each day of the Holy Day sequence, from Sabbaths to New Moons to Feasts. The sacrifices under the Law were provided for from a special levy allocated under the responsibility of the national authority. The Prince’s levy is examined in the paper Tithing (No. 161).

‘Ezekiel 45:14-17 Concerning the ordinance of oil, the bath of oil, ye shall offer the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is an homer of ten baths; for ten baths are an homer: ¹⁵And one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat pastures of Israel; for a meat offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make reconciliation for them, saith the Lord GOD. ¹⁶All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel. ¹⁷And it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel. (KJV)’

This offering was a tithe of a tithe of oil, and a half-tithe of the tithe for the meat offerings. It was collected by the Prince for the sacrifices on Sabbaths, New Moons, Holy Days and offerings. Thus it is incorrect to claim that the tithe was eliminated with the sacrifices, because they were obviously provided for separately. This text also concerns the first-fruits from Ezekiel 44:29-30, and the orders are made for the restoration of Israel in its lands. Messiah will thus set up the system that he is alleged to have done away with from his crucifixion – and Scripture cannot be broken. This will be for the mental healing of the nations, but this matter will be examined separately.

The Feast of the New Moon was treated as a Shabbathown or Holy Sabbath. Sacrifices were offered as we see above as a memorial.

‘Numbers 28:11-15And in the beginnings of your months ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year without spot; ¹²And three tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, for one bullock; and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, for one ram; ¹³And a several tenth deal of flour mingled with oil for a meat offering unto one lamb; for a burnt offering of a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD. ¹⁴And their drink offerings shall be half an hin of wine unto a bullock, and the third part of an hin unto a ram, and a fourth part of an hin unto a lamb: this is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year. ¹⁵And one kid of the goats for a sin offering unto the LORD shall be offered, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering. (KJV)’

We see from this text that the New Moon festivals were to be on every month throughout the months of the year. The same requirements apply to the New Moons as they do to the other Feasts and Sabbaths.

‘1Chronicles 23:31And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the LORD in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the LORD: (KJV)’

We see that the New Moons are in fact intermediary between the Sabbaths and the Feasts. Like the Feasts and the Sabbaths, the nexus between the sacrifices and the New Moons was fulfilled in Messiah. However, the observance of the New Moons themselves was not eliminated.

This observance is not to be construed with the worship of the moon, which is expressly forbidden.

‘Deuteronomy 4:19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. (KJV)’

‘Deuteronomy 17:3And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; (KJV)’

The observance of the Sabbaths and New Moons together with the set Feasts is given to mark the Plan of God and the flow of the cycles of the creation. The solar calendar does not perform this function.

From the restoration of the Passover of Hezekiah, after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Hezekiah restored the New Moons as well as the Feasts. No restoration will be complete until the New Moons are correctly restored to their rightful place in the system (see also Prove All Things, Church of God, In Truth, Vol. 2, Issue 1, p. 6).

‘2Chronicles 31:3He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD. (KJV)’

Ezra 3:5 also notes the New Moons were restored under Ezra. Thus both major restorations involved the restoration of the New Moons.

‘Ezra 3:5 And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD. (KJV)’

The New Moon is the beginning or the First day of the month (Num. 10:10; 28:11). No system that bases itself on the relocation of the beginning of the month is valid. The Hillel calendar is invalid because of this fact. The actual Temple Calendar was based on the conjunction of the New Moon and we know that from the text in Philo.

“This is the New Moon, or beginning of the lunar month, namely the period between one conjunction and the next, the length of which has been accurately calculated in the astronomical schools.” (Judaeus, Philo, The Special Laws, II, XXVI, 140, Treatise by F.H. Colson, Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA, 1937.)

The lunar calendar is the mark of the Holy People. In its notation to Exodus 12:2, the Mekilta states that: “the nations reckon by the sun, but Israel by the moon”.

‘The feasts of PASSOVER and BOOTHS were not set simply by the general lunar calculation, but on the basis of the appearance of the new moon of the month in which they occurred, PENTECOST depending on Passover in this respect … Though it is impossible to document this fully, it seems probable that the sabbath was originally also part of this natural cycle of time, related to the phases of the moon, and that, following its separation the Feast of the New Moon continued as a separate observance (The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. 3, art. ‘New Moon’, p. 544).’

The conjecture regarding the Sabbath and New Moon is perhaps based upon the system of observance that we see in paper The Works of the Law Text – or MMT (No. 104). Strugnell and Qimron have translated the text from the DSS (see Bib. Arch. Review, Nov.-Dec. 1994). All historic Jewish rites for the announcement of the New Moon from the preceding Sabbath contain a prayer of eschatological content. The rationale for the observance was God’s creation of the moon as a “sign” of the unbreakable covenant with Israel, the “times” of whose cultus it decreed (Ps. 104:19; Ecclus. 43:6-8) (Int. Dict. ibid., see also Ber. R. 13d). The Calendar is thus an inseparable part of the covenant with Israel.

The New Moon was noted as significant for the giving of visions and prophecy, perhaps from 2Kings 4:23 but certainly from Ezekiel 26:1; 29:17; 31:1; 32:1 (cf. Isa. 47:13; Hag. 1:1). This directly refuted the astrologers and stargazers of the Babylonian system, as we see from Isaiah 47:13.

‘Isaiah 47:13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. (KJV)’

The monthly prognostications were done on the phases of the moon, thus perverting the system.

The Sabbaths and the New Moons both enjoined rest from work, as we see from Amos 8:5. It was a day of rejoicing. The mirth intended for the Holy Days was removed from Hosea 2:11.

‘Hosea 2:11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. (KJV)’

This was because of unfaithfulness and idolatry. God destroys His people because they do not keep His Laws. The end result is that He destroys the wealth of the nation.

‘Hosea 2:12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. (KJV)’

Fasting and mourning were suspended on the New Moons. We know that this occurred throughout Israel up until Messiah from the Apocrypha (Jth. 8:6). The ceremonies were proclaimed with trumpets (Num. 10:10; Ps. 81:3).

‘Psalm 81:3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. (KJV)’

The New Moon of significant months is especially kept from the texts.

‘1Samuel 20:6 If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. (KJV)’

The New Moon of Nisan was significant, and also the New Moon of Tishri was itself the Feast of Trumpets (see also the paper Trumpets (No. 136)).

‘Ezekiel 45:18-20Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary: ¹⁹And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. ²⁰And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye reconcile the house. (KJV)’

The cleansing of the sanctuary or Temple commenced on the New Moon of the First month (Nisan) beginning the Sacred Year (cf. Sanctification of the Temple of God (No. 241). This cleansed the inner court. This was to represent the elect as the inner wheel of Ezekiel’s vision. The cleansing of the simple and the erroneous was effected from the Seventh of the First month or Nisan. The priesthood had prepared themselves and the nation.

The New Moon of the Seventh month was also important.

‘Leviticus 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. (KJV)

Nehemiah 8:2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. (KJV)’

The New Moon of the Seventh month thus commences the restoration through the Reading of the Law, which occurs every seven years of the Jubilee cycle over every day of Tabernacles (cf. also Reading the Law with Ezra and Nehemiah (No. 250)).

‘Deuteronomy 31:10-12And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, ¹¹When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.¹²Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: (KJV)

Nehemiah 8:18 Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner. (KJV)’

The symbolism here is that the seventh or Sabbath year represents the millennial cycle of one thousand years, commencing with the return of Messiah, who issues the Law from Jerusalem. The Law then spreads throughout the world from the subjugation of the nations. The reading on the Feast of Trumpets, in the restoration of Nehemiah, was to point towards the restoration of Messiah, and from Trumpets.

(cf. also the paper Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272)).

(section requoted from W. E. Cox The New Moons (No. 125), Christian Churches of God, 1995, 1999).

The Festivals according to Philo

In dealing with the Feasts under the Commandments we read what Philo has to say in The Specials Laws about the Fourth Commandment inter alia:

THE SPECIAL LAWS, II*

{**Yonge’s title, A Treatise on the Special Laws, Which Are Referred to Three Articles of the Decalogue, Namely the Third, Fourth, and Fifth; About Oaths, and the Reverence Due to Them; About the Holy Sabbath; About the Honour To Be Paid to Parents.}

….

Yonge’s translation includes a separate treatise title at this point: On the Number Seven. His next division begins and ends with roman numeral I (= X in the Loeb). The text follows the Loeb numbering.

(39) The next commandment is that concerning the sacred seventh day, in which are comprehended an infinite number of most important festivals. For instance, there is the release of those men who by nature were free, but who, through some unforeseen necessity of the times, have become slaves, which release takes place every seventh year. Again, there is the humanity of creditors towards their debtors, as they forgive their countrymen their debts every seventh year. Also there is the rest given to the fertile ground, whether it be in thechampaignor in the mountainous country, which also takes place every seventh year. Moreover, there are those ordinances, which are established respecting the fiftieth year. And of all these things the bare narration (without looking to any inner and figurative signification) is sufficient to lead those who are well disposed to perfect virtue, and to make even those who are obstinate and stubborn in their dispositions more docile and tractable. (40) Now we have already spoken at some length about the virtue of the number seven, explaining what a nature it has in reference to the number ten; and also what a connection it has to the decade itself, and also to the number four, which is the foundation and the source of the decade. And now, having been compounded in regular order from the unit, it in regular order produces the perfect number twenty-eight; being multiplied according to a regular proportion equal in all its parts, it makes at last both a cube and a square. I also showed how there is an infinite number of beauties which may be extracted from a careful contemplation of it, on which we have not at present time to dilate. But we must examine every one of the special matters which are before us as comprehended in this one, beginning with the first. The first matter to be considered is that of the Festivals. [Yonge’s translation includes a separate treatise title at this point: To Show That the Festivals Are Ten in Number. This “treatise” begins with roman numeral I (= XI in the Loeb), enumerates each of the ten festivals individually, and extends through Loeb number 214. The text follows the Loeb numbering.]
(41) Now there are ten festivals in number, as the law sets them down.

The first is that which any one will perhaps be astonished to hear called a festival. This festival is every day.

The second festival is the seventh day, which the Hebrews in their native language call the sabbath.

The third is that which comes after the conjunction, which happens on the day of the new moon in each month.

The fourth is that of the passover which is called the passover.

The fifth is the first fruits of the corn–the sacred sheaf. [Note the Wave Sheaf is one of the Ten festivals of the Temple period]

The sixth is the feast of unleavened bread, after which that festival is celebrated, which is really

The seventh day of seventh days.

The eighth is the festival of the sacred moon, or the feast of trumpets.

The ninth is the fast.

The tenth is the feast of tabernacles, which is the last of all the annual festivals, ending so as to make the perfect number of ten. We must now begin with the first festival.

{Note Philo here combines the Last Great Day with the Feast of Tabernacles making Ten instead of Eleven]

We notice here that in the introduction in dealing with the third Feast, namely the New Moon, Philo uses the term which has been rendered after the conjunction and some others have rendered as following in the sense of “according to” or “as determined by” the conjunction. However, he qualifies this matter by saying which happens on the day of the New Moon in each month. The text is thus quite clear that the New Moon is the day on which the conjunction occurs. In the later explanations Philo then goes on to state that the month is from one conjunction to the next as determined in the astronomical schools, as was quoted above.

There can thus be no error. The New Moon is on the day of the conjunction as determined by the schools from Jerusalem. To postpone the New Moon as is done by Judaism is to postpone all the festivals and make them of no value. It is simply thumbing one’s nose at God and His Laws. On the New Moon hang all the subsequent festivals.

Yonge’s translation lacked part of 140 and the texts of 142-144 (which is supplied here) and explains the timing and the theology behind the New Moon and why it runs according to the conjunction and the New Moon day is the day of the conjunction.

THE THIRD FESTIVAL

XXVI. (140) Following the order which we have adopted, we proceed to speak of the third festival, that of the new moon. First of all, because it is the beginning of the month, and the beginning, whether of number or of time, is honourable. Secondly, because at this time there is nothing in the whole of heaven destitute of light. (141) Thirdly, because at that period the more powerful and important body gives a portion of necessary assistance to the less important and weaker body; for, at the time of the new moon, the sun begins to illuminate the moon with a light which is visible to the outward senses, and then she displays her own beauty to the beholders. And this is, as it seems, an evident lesson of kindness and humanity to men, to teach them that they should never grudge to impart their own good things to others, but, imitating the heavenly bodies, should drive envy away and banish it from the Soul.{17}{sections 142-144 were omitted in Yonge’s translation because the edition on which Yonge based his translation, Mangey, lacked this material. These lines have been newly translated for this volume.} (142) The fourth reason is that of all the bodies in the heaven, the moon traverses the zodiac in the least appointed time: it accomplishes its orbit in a monthly interval. For this reason the law has honored the end of its orbit, the point when the moon has finished at the beginning point from which it began to travel, by having called that day a feast so that it might again teach us an excellent lesson that in the affairs of life we should make the ends harmonious with the beginnings. This will happen if we hold the reins on our first impulses with the power of reason and do not permit them to refuse the reins and to run free like animals without anyone in charge of the herd.

http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book28.html

Note, as we said above, Yonge does not have the full text of 140 as Colson does and does not have 142-144, which appear to have been lost or removed to obscure the exact nature of the New Moons. However, the earlier section above still leaves no room for doubt as to when it was and how it was determined.

Therefore, there is no authority for determining any other system such as the system formulated by and from the era of Rabbi Hillel II (ca. 358) to the eleventh century. The basis of the calculation of the Molad of Tishri is set so that there are a series of postponements in the Jewish year. Those postponements ensure that the Sabbaths and Holy Days do not have to be kept in sequence, except for the minimal times. This is because the Pharisees and their successors, the Rabbis, have made God’s Sabbaths so onerous that the Holy Day systems have become a burden. More importantly, the New Moons themselves testify against the validity of the system. In spite of the clear evidence of the heavens and the Laws as laid down from the creation, it is now argued that the Hillel calendar has authority and that the New Moons can not be kept because the Molad of Tishri determines the timing of the months, which no longer fully coincide with the New Moons. This sort of circular reasoning is popular with Jews and ministers of the Churches that keep the Feasts, but not the New Moons.

The authority for determining the calendar has been abdicated to the rabbinical authorities, operating within a system of calculation and established long after Christ and the Apostles. Indeed, the Church was faced with two Satanic attacks upon its doctrines at the same time. From the Council of Elvira (c. 300) an attack began to be made upon the Sabbaths. At the Council of Nicaea (ca. 325), the doctrine of the Godhead was impugned and the pagan Easter was harmonised among those sects. The rabbinical authorities ceased to exercise authority from Jerusalem (later from Jamnia). With the help of the Babylonian rabbis, Rabbi Hillel II developed the Hillel calendar and the calculation of the Molad of Tishri.

In 366 CE at the Council of Laodicea, the Sabbath was anathematised. In 381 at the Council of Constantinople, the Trinity was argued and, at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, it was formulated. The Hillel calendar can thus be seen for what it was and is. It was part of a sustained attack on the doctrines and religious observance of the Church and the people of God, by an apostate system. Judah has not kept the Holy Days of God correctly since 358 at least. Those Churches of God that follow the Hillel Jewish calendar are also not observing the Holy Days correctly.

The claim that the Feast of Tabernacles would be extended to nine days if a Sabbath follows the Last Great Day is an assumption that the Sabbath has some significance other than as the weekly Sabbath, when following a festival. If the postponements were to take effect, or such exceptions were to be made, then the Law would have mentioned them. They are not mentioned at all throughout the Bible, nor is there one shred of evidence that they were ever used or determined or even thought about prior to 344 CE. Some regard the year 344 as that in which the new calendar was introduced in some localities (Ency. Judaica, art. ‘Hillel’, (II; 330-365 CE)). In spite of the fact that the Samaritans (and the Sadducees, who by this time had disappeared) had been calculating the conjunction for centuries, the Jews later claimed there was no fixed system. At the time of the Mishnah (ca. 200 CE), allegedly there was no system of calculation in force, as the entire legislation of the Mishnah rests on the presupposition that, without any previous reckoning, each New Moon began when the New Moon became visible (Schürer, ibid., Vol. 1, p. 591). This was done on the evidence of reliable witnesses before the court in Jerusalem and then later in Jamnia (Schürer, ibid.).

The duration of each individual month was not fixed. This is confirmed by the two pieces of legislation of the Mishnah (as quoted by Schürer).

(1) mErub. 3:7; ‘If before the New Year a man feared that [the month Elul] might be intercalated…’[It is clear from mSheb. 10:2 that the later rule according to which Elul must always have 29 days, did not exist at that time (fn 11)] (2) mArak. 2:2, ‘In a year there are never less than four ‘full’ months [of thirty days], nor do more than eight months require to be considered.’

Schürer says that:

The first passage discloses that it was by no means determined in advance whether a month was to have 29 or 30 days. And the second passage shows how uncertain the calendar was under this empirical system: even in the age of the Mishnah (second century A.D.) it was considered possible that there might be years in which there were only four months of thirty days, and again others in which there were eight such months (i.e. that the lunar year might extend from 352 to 356 days, whereas in fact it lasts from 354 to 355 days) (see fn. 12 p. 592, ibid.).

(2) The system of intercalation was still not fixed in the second century A.D. It is true that Julius Africanus says that the Jews, like the Greeks, intercalated three months every eight years; [Julius Africanus in Euseb. Demonstr. evang. viii 2, 54 = Syncellus, ed. Dindorf 1, p. 611 = M. J. Routh Religiquiae Sacrae II, p. 302 …] and there is no reason to doubt this statement respecting his own time (the first half of the third century A.D.) even though it is inexact in regard to the Greeks, the majority of whom had long since adopted the more accurate nineteen-year cycle. It is also generally valid for the time of Jesus, because even with the purely empirical method, the three intercalations during the course of eight years is a result that emerges of itself. Nevertheless knowledge of this eight year cycle in the astronomical section of the Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees is still extremely vague; and it was not yet adapted to a fixed intercalary system (ibid.).

This text shows that the year could be, and was, 352-356 days in some years, whereas the postponements apply the rule of 354-355 days. This is an unsubstantiated, imposed rule.

Schürer shows the folly of constructing a calendar based on either of these systems in the Book of Enoch or the Book of Jubilees (ibid., pp. 592-593).

Footnote 12 on page 592 says:

In the context of the passage cited (m Arak. 2:2), possible minimum and maximum limits are given with regard to the most varied things. The above-mentioned oscillation in the length of the year was therefore actually observed, and in the time of the Mishnah was still regarded as possible. As a matter of fact, the statement appeared so remarkable to the authorities of the Babylonian Talmud that attempts were made to give it a new interpretation, see bArak. 8b-9a; Zuckerman Materialen, pp. 64 f., (ibid.).

Ignoring the evidence of the Samaritans, Schürer holds that the calendar was carried out by empirical observation in the time of the Mishnah without any advance calculation, as the following two rules of the Mishnah allegedly indicate.

(1) mMeg. 1:4, ‘If the Megillah (the Scroll of Esther) has been read in the First Adar, and the year is intercalated, it must be read again in the Second Adar’;

(2) mEduy. 7:7, ‘[R. Joshua and R. Papias] testified that the year may be declared a leap-year at any time during Adar; for previously this could be done only until Purim. They testified the year may be declared a leap-year conditionally. Once when Rabban Gamaliel had gone on a journey to obtain authority from the governor of Syria, and he was long absent, the year was declared a leap-year on condition that Rabban Gamaliel approved. And when he returned, he said, “I approve”; and so it was a leap year.’

The rule regarding the reading of Esther does not indicate observation, but rather the standing rule that Esther must also be read in the intercalated month. It makes no reference to any uncertainty as to the intercalation.

Schürer is certain that there was absolutely no calculation in advance (Schürer, ibid., p. 593).

The second reference above attempts to insinuate that the declaration of intercalation initially could only occur prior to Purim, but this rule itself is at the earliest post-Babylonian. Intercalation was pronounced no less than eight months in advance with the Samaritans; and the Sadducees had no lesser knowledge and system. It is more likely that the rabbinical system had no precise method that would have been accepted by the populace, in that it ran counter to the biblical texts. This was after the destruction of the Temple in any case.

The rule according to which it was decided whether to intercalate or not is very simple.

The feast of Passover, to be celebrated at full moon in the month of Nisan (14 Nisan), must always fall after the vernal equinox [meta isemerian earinen] … Anatolius, in a fragment of great importance for the history of the Jewish calendar preserved in Eusebius HE vii 32, 16-19, characterizes this as the unanimous view of all the Jewish authorities…The statements of Philo and Josephus also accord with it. If therefore, it was noticed towards the end of the year that Passover would fall before the vernal equinox, the intercalation of a month before Nisan was decreed (Schürer, ibid., p. 593).

Schürer inserts “(14 Nisan)” here in the text based on the important fragment of Anatolius, which he says shows that 14 Nisan must fall after the equinox (cf. Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VI, pp. 147ff.), and this matter is examined in the paper The Quartodeciman Disputes (No. 277). It has been accepted in the twentieth century that 14 Nisan could fall on the equinox but this may not be the case, as we will see. The real issue seems to be with Anatolius, that the sacrifice at the end of the Fourteenth must see the full moon and thus he is speaking of the vernal equinox, preceding the sacrifice at 3 p.m. at the end of the 14 Nisan, and beginning the night of the Fifteenth of the First month. This matter has great significance for the start of the year. Anatolius also makes a significant error in this text involving the start and finish of Unleavened Bread, which is contradicted by the Bible source and the Samaritan and other practices (cf. ibid. and No. 277). From a careful reading of Anatolius, the rule is that the time of the equinox must precede the 3 p.m. sacrifice on the afternoon of 14 Nisan. If it does not the year must be intercalated. This is and was calculated months and years in advance.

Josephus says also that it was while the sun was in Aries, and this makes the system more precise and this fact is omitted. It is important that Schürer notes that the Greeks and the Babylonians (the Egyptians with their solar year were not involved here) had for centuries possessed a fixed calendar based on accurate computation. The Babylonians had such a calendar under the Persians and the Samaritans and Sadducees determined the calendar long in advance according to the conjunction. It is impossible that the Jews were not aware of that system. Schürer’s appeal to the stubbornness of the cult in the face of other knowledge is a telling statement, although not as he intended.

Only the association of the calendar with the religious cult, and the stubborn opposition of the cult to all scientific reforms, make such a state of affairs comprehensible. But in the end, scientific understanding made its impact here too, and did so from Babylon. The Babylonians, Mar Samuel in Nehardea and Rabbi Adda bar Ahaba in Sura, both from the third century A.D., are named as rabbis who made a particularly important contribution to the calendar system. The latter was accurately acquainted with the nineteen-year cycle in the improved form given it by Hipparchus. The introduction into Palestine of a calendar based on it is to be ascribed to the patriarch Hillel in the first half of the fourth century A.D. (Schürer, p. 594).

Why did they resist the knowledge of the entire system that surrounded them, and which was in their midst, and which had been in use during the Temple period? There is another answer to this problem, that Schürer hesitates to provide, and one that is obvious. The empirical system enabled the rabbis to shift the declarations to suit the cumbersome limitations imposed on the Faith by the traditions regarding the keeping of the Sabbath, New Moons and Feasts. The nineteen-year cycle had been known for centuries and was ancient in the East. For example, their map-making capacities relied on astronomical knowledge superior to Europe in the Reformation, and we have archaeological evidence that indicates the Bar Kochba rebels visited America (cf. C. Gordon, Before Columbus, London, 1971). However, it was only when the calculation system that enabled the postponements to be effected in advance had been sufficiently perfected that the later rabbinical system would accept the advance calculation methods. The system in Palestine was not a lack of knowledge of the calculations. They possessed such knowledge and implemented the system in Palestine during the entire Temple period. It was rather the absence of a precise system that would enable the keeping of the Feasts within the cumbersome system of tradition that had been imposed on it. This did not happen until the fourth century CE. Without the traditions that are of themselves invalid, the system of calculation could have remained in operation as it had many centuries earlier. These were the traditions for which Christ had condemned the Pharisees.

The correct system of the calculation of the month based on the New Moon is perfectly predictable. From the New Moon at full dark there can be a larger number of thirty-day months in a year. This would return to the pre-tradition observations of up to eight thirty-day months (see above). The Passover must always fall after the vernal equinox. The New Moon may be before the equinox up to fourteen days.

The process of the New Moon is also interrelated with the tidal system of Spring and Neap Tides. The Spring Tides always occur from the Full and New Moons. The Neap Tides occur from the quarters (see Annexure).

The rules that developed are seen to be a process of refinement in order to place tradition over the Laws of God because the traditions made the observance of the Holy Days onerous.

The argument that the calendar is a responsibility of the Jews, as part of the Oracles of God, is a false understanding that misapprehends the meaning of Scripture (cf. the paper The Oracles of God (No. 184)).

Another absurdity of the Jewish authority argument, within the religious bodies that follow the Jewish authority argument, is that: if such is the case, then those who acknowledge such authority should keep a Sivan 6 Pentecost, which most do not do. In fact, they openly attack the authority of the Jewish calendar on this issue, as it is so blatantly wrong. This is incoherent reasoning. The Jews are either inspired and have authority, or they are wrong. If they have God-given authority over the Calendar then the Church must follow them. If they do not, the Church must determine the correct Calendar from the Bible. The New Moons are central to this issue. The Holy Days are determined from the New Moons and the calculations are precise over centuries.

The New Moons are thus kept from their event, not from contrivance or postponement.

Arguments against the keeping of the New Moons from the predication that they are rendered impossible from the adjustments and postponements from the calculation of the Molad of Tishri, are based on false premises and formally absurd. Such argument assumes that there is some validity for the practice, which there is not, and then argues from the derived practice against keeping a biblical institution that Messiah plainly says he will institute and force all nations to keep, when he takes up rule from Jerusalem (Isa. 66:23). All flesh will worship God on the Sabbaths and the New Moons. The Feasts are also required as we see from Zechariah 14:16-19. This Holy Calendar of God will be enforced by control of the harvests and the food supply. Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow (Heb. 13:8). If Messiah will require it of all nations then, he requires it of the elect now. Arguments against the New Moons from the Molad of Tishri are based upon the premise that there is some validity for the Hillel calendar and the postponements, which there is not. Indeed, such argument proves that the Hillel or modern Jewish calendar is incompatible with the word of God and the correct observance of His Sacred Calendar.

After they had determined the new calendar, Hillel II said that it would stand until Messiah came. That statement was made because it was known that it had no biblical basis and that Messiah would have to determine the system. Hillel knew, from Isaiah 66:23, that the New Moons would be reintroduced when Messiah came and he knew, therefore, that what he was doing had no validity for the millennial restoration. The fact is that Messiah would not have countenanced such a system, because it transgressed the Law by tradition. Christ had already condemned the Scribes and Pharisees because of their traditions, some three hundred years earlier. Christ removed their authority with the ordination of the Seventy (Lk. 10:1,17).

Matthew 15:2-6 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. ³But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? ⁴For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. ⁵But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; ⁶And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. (KJV)

The rabbis know the calendar is wrong and some are concerned about it (cf. Why Is Passover So Late In 1997? (No. 239)). The tampering with the calendar had happened off and on for some time. God condemns the demeaning of His Feasts in these various forms through Isaiah. The condemnation in Isaiah concerned as much the spirit in which they were kept and the injustice carried on in the nation before, during and after, as it did playing with the calendar. However, Jeroboam saw what God thought about postponing Feasts (cf. the paper Jeroboam and the Hillel Calendar (No. 191)).

Isaiah 1:13-14 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. ¹⁴Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. (KJV)

The emphasis here is on your New Moons and Feasts. These activities being condemned are not God’s New Moons and Feasts. They have been perverted by men and their traditions. This happens by the practices and attitudes within, but also it occurs from the timing of the New Moon, affecting the placement of the Feasts. The wrong New Moon means the wrong Feast and God’s Law is broken. Observation itself is not an adequate reason for uncertainty, as to the New Moon and the Feasts.

The Calendar is based upon the New Moon, a precise astronomical event that is perfectly predictable, and is the event laid down by biblical Law as the basis of the determination of the Holy Day systems. This event is calculated from the time in Jerusalem to place it within a consistent Earth day.

That day is a twenty-four hour period calculated from sunset (twilight) to sunset (twilight) as at the equinox or, in other words, from 6 p.m. to 6 p.m. approximately. This is especially relevant with the First month (Nisan) and the Seventh month (Tishri) because they are closest to the equinox.

The Jubilee

The entire Calendar system is based on the Jubilee. The Jubilee is a fifty-year cycle, which is reflected in the construction of the Temple and the Church and the Bible structure. Some later Jewish and Samaritan writers (cf. Bowman, Samaritan Documents, loc. cit., ch. 2, Tolidah and Lev. 25:10,11), erroneously tried to make it a forty-nine year cycle from the second Jubilee onwards. The Jubilee pointed towards the life of man and his fifty years of growth. The Laws on which it is based are covered in the paper Law and the Fourth Commandment (No. 256). It is made up of seven cycles each of seven years. Harvests are granted in the Calendar every six years so that the Sabbath Year can be kept (Lev. 25:3-7). The Law is read every Sabbath Year at the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut. 31:10-13). The structure of the Law and the Prophets as read at the Sabbatical Feast (prepared from the 21/40 or 1998 Sabbatical Reading of the Law) is explained in papers on the Law and the Commandments (Nos. 251-263); (cf. also the paper The Law of God (No. L1).

A treble harvest is granted at the Forty-eighth year of the Jubilee in the sixth year of the last cycle so that the two years of the Sabbath and the Jubilee can be kept (Lev. 25:21). This Jubilee year is counted from Atonement on the Forty-ninth year to Atonement in the Fiftieth year or Jubilee, when all lands return to the tribal possessors. All land values are calculated from this basis (Lev. 25:15). This year is kept and the Jubilee blown at Atonement in year forty-nine (Lev. 25:8-9), and then kept holy for one year to Atonement on the Fiftieth year (Lev. 25:9-13), so that the lands can then be ploughed and sown for the spring harvest in Abib of the First year of the next Jubilee. This year (50^th) is an eighth normal year of the cycle (Lev. 25:22).

The Jubilee occurs in the years 24 and 74 BCE and 27 and 77 CE in each century. The next Jubilee, the fortieth Jubilee since the ministry of Messiah and the forty-ninth Jubilee since the reconstruction of the Temple and the restoration of the Law under Ezra and Nehemiah, is in the sacred year 2027/8. The year 2028 will start the Jubilee of Jubilees and the new millennial reign of Messiah as 1/50 (cf. Reading the Law with Ezra and Nehemiah (No. 250); The Meaning of Ezekiel’s Vision (No. 108); Timing of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection (No. 159); and Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272)).

God’s Calendar has stood perfectly with His Plan performed in accordance with that Calendar for millennia. It is perfectly in accord with His Law.

If God had wanted qualification or adjustment of His system, He would have given clear instruction, as He has done on every other aspect of His Law. Where He is silent on a matter, we can safely infer there is no basis for the system that qualifies what He has laid down. God, not Judah, has authority over the unchanging Scriptures and His own Calendar.

Addendum:

The Samaritan calendar is determined according to the conjunction. Along with the calendar of the Sadducees and the Priesthood during the Temple period, it was the same in this aspect and also in respect of determining Pentecost, which they specified as falling on Sunday. What is not readily understood is that they differed in one aspect, which was that of the determination of the equinox and the beginning of the year. This distinction thus made the Samaritan calendar a month later than the Temple calendar for some sixty percent of the time, even though both were determined according to the conjunction. This aspect is explained in the new edition of the paper The Moon and the New Year (No. 213) and is also examined in the latest edition of Jeroboam and the Hillel Calendar (No. 191)

Appendix A

The place of the Equinoxes in the determination of the Feasts

Philo, a Jew at Alexandria over the life of Christ, taught on the Temple Calendar and stated in his work on the Special Laws that the traditional equinoxes take place in the first and seventh months. This means he believed that the new moon BEFORE the traditional Vernal Equinox is the first month of the year!

Philo goes on to say [in THE SPECIAL LAWS, II, (153) page 582 THE FIFTH FESTIVAL XXVIII.] “Although the month “in which” the autumnal equinox occurs is first in sequence according to solar orbits, it is not considered first in the law.” http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book28.html

Philo here is saying that the month in which the Autumnal or northern equinox occurs in is the first month of the year according to the solar orbit but not considered first in the law i.e. the month/moon in which the Autumnal equinox happens is the seventh month, although it the first according to the solar orbit. The month in which the Northern Vernal equinox occurs is the first month of the year according to the law, but seventh according to the solar orbit. Thus Hillel is heresy.

He also writes, ON THE CREATION (116) Page 17

“And the sun, the ruler of the day, making two equinoxes every year, both in spring and autumn. The spring equinox in the constellation of Aries, and the autumnal one in Libra, gives the most evident demonstration possible of the divine dignity of the number seven.”

The assertion that each takes place in a seventh month sequence is derived by counting from One to Seven with five months between the first and the seventh and after the seventh as five to the First month at the end of the second seven as the next sequence of Seven to get to the First month.

The quote used by some as “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 the fruits of the earth are engendered and brought to perfection; the fruit of corn, and all other things which are sown, being 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.”

http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book1.html

FLACCUS page 735 chapter 14 verse 116 states: “This was the unexampled misfortune which befell Flaccus in the country of which he was governor, being taken prisoner like an enemy on account of the Jews, …the time of his arrest, for it was the general festival of the Jews at the time of the autumnal equinox, during which it is the custom of the Jews to live in tents;”

http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book36.html

THE SPECIAL LAWS, I: Note also that from this text the New Moon of the New Year is a sacred feast as well, the new moons requiring special sacrifices.

“(180) For the feast which begins the sacred Month{23}{the exact meaning of ieromeµnia is unclear. The best explanation of the term was suggested by a scholiast on Pindar Nem. 3.2 who explained that the beginnings of months were sacred (A. B. Drachmann, Scholia Vetera in Pindari Carmina [3 vols., Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1903û27] 3:42). Thus understood to be Philo’s designation for the feast day which opens the sacred month, it is here consistently translated “the feast which begins the sacred month.”} double sacrifices are fitly offered since the reason for it is double: one, since it is the new moon; the other, since it is the feast which begins the sacred month. Regarding the fact that it is the new moon it is distinctly stated that sacrifices equal to the other new moons are to be sacrificed. Regarding the fact that it is the feast which begins the sacred month, the gifts are doubled apart from the young bulls. For one rather than two is offered since the judge has thought it correct to use the indivisible nature of the number one instead of the divisible number two at the beginning of the year. (181) In the first season–he calls springtime and its equinox the first season–he ordered that a feast which is called “the feast of unleavened bread” be celebrated for seven days and declared that every day was equal in honor in religious services. For he commanded that each day ten whole burnt offerings should be sacrificed just as they are for the new moons, making the total number of whole burnt offerings apart from those dealing with the trespass offerings seventy. (182) For he thought that the same reason governed the relation of the new moon to the month which governed the relation of the seven days of the feast to the equinox that took place in the seventh month. As a result he declared sacred both the beginning of each month and the beginning, consisting of the same number of days as the new moons, of the aggregate seven months. (183) In the middle of spring the harvest takes place during which season thank offerings are offered to God from the field because it has produced fruit in abundance and the crops are being harvested. This feast is the most publicly celebrated feast and is called “the feast of the first produce,” named etymologically from the circumstance that the first of the produce, the first fruits, are dedicated at that time.” http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book27.html

THE SPECIAL LAWS, II

181.} because before the annual crop has proceeded to human use, the first produce of the new grain and the first fruit which has appeared are offered as first fruit. (180) For it is just and religiously correct that those who have received the greatest gift from God, the abundance of the most necessary as well as most beneficial and even the sweetest food, should not enjoy it or have any use of it at all before they offer the first fruits to the Supplier. They are giving him nothing since all things and possessions and gifts are his, but through a small symbol demonstrate a thankful and God-loving character to the one who needs no favors but showers continuous and ever-flowing favors. (181) Or else because the fruit of wheat is most especially the first and most excellent of all productions. (182) And the bread is leavened because the law forbids any one to offer unleavened bread upon the altar; not in order that there should be any contradiction in the injunctions given, but that in a manner the giving and receiving may be of one sort; the receiving being gratitude from those who offer it, and the giving an unhesitating bestowal of the customary blessings on those who offer. […]{25}{the whole of this passage appears corrupt and unintelligible. Mangey especially points out that what was forbidden was not to offer unleavened bread, but leavened bread upon the altar. See Exodus 28.23:18.} Not indeed to that […]{26}{part of section 183 was omitted in Yonge’s translation because the edition on which Yonge based his translation, Mangey, lacked this material. These lines have been newly translated for this volume.} http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book28.html

THE SPECIAL LAWS, 1, (186 — page 551 (186) “When the third season takes place in the seventh month at the autumnal equinox, at the beginning of the month, the feast which begins the sacred month named “the feast of trumpets” and which was discussed earlier is celebrated. On the tenth day the fast takes place which they take seriously–not only those who are zealous about piety and holiness, but even those who do nothing religious the rest of the time.”

THE DECALOGUE (161) page 532, “But to the seventh day of the week he has assigned the greatest festivals, those of the longest duration, at the periods of the equinox both vernal and autumnal in each year; appointing two festivals for these two epochs, each lasting seven days; the one which takes place in the spring being for the perfection of what is being sown, and the one which falls in autumn being a feast of thanksgiving for the bringing home of all the fruits which the trees have produced. And seven days have very appropriately been appointed to the seventh month of each equinox, so that each month might receive an especial honour of one sacred day of festival, for the purpose of refreshing and cheering the mind with its holiday.” http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book26.html

THE SPECIAL LAWS, II, page 582 THE FIFTH FESTIVAL XXVIII. (150) “And there is another festival combined with the feast of the passover, having a use of food different from the usual one, and not customary; the use, namely, of unleavened bread, from which it derives its name. … This month, being the seventh (scriptural month) both in number and order, according to the revolutions of the sun, is the first in power; (151) on which account it is also called the first in the sacred scriptures. And the reason, as I imagine, is as follows. The vernal equinox is an imitation and representation of that beginning in accordance with which this world was created.

Accordingly, every year, God reminds men of the creation of the world, and with this view puts forward the spring, in which season all plants flourish and bloom (152) for which reason this is very correctly set down in the law as the first month, since, in a manner, it may be said to be an impression of the first beginning of all, being stamped by it as by an archetypal Seal. (153) Although the month in which the autumnal equinox occurs is first in sequence according to solar orbits, it is not considered first in the law.

The reason is that at that time, after all the crops have been harvested, the trees lose their leaves and everything that springtime produced in the height of its glory is withering under dry winds after it has been made dry by the flaming heat of the sun. (154) Therefore he thought that to apply the name “first” to the month in which the hill country and the plain become barren and infertile, was incongruous and unfitting. For it is necessary that the most beautiful and desirable phenomena belong to those things which are first and have received the position of leadership, those phenomena through which the reproduction and growth of animals and fruit and crops take place but not the ominous destructive forces. (155) And this feast is begun on the fifteenth day of the month, in the middle of the month, on the day on which the moon is full of light, in consequence of the providence of God taking care that there shall be no darkness on that day. …(160) Since, therefore, the vernal festival is a commemoration of the creation of the world,

THE SPECIAL LAWS, I {Yonge’s title, A Treatise on Circumcision.} XXXV. (172) “And loaves are placed on the seventh day on the sacred table, being equal in number to the months of the year, twelve loaves, arranged in two rows of six each, in accordance with the arrangement of the equinoxes; for there are two equinoxes every year, the vernal and the autumnal, which are each reckoned by periods of six months. At the vernal equinox all the seeds sown in the ground begin to ripen; about which time, also, the trees begin to put forth their fruit. And by the autumnal one the fruit of the trees has arrived at a perfect ripeness; and at this period, again, is the beginning of seed time. Thus nature, going through a long course of time, showers gifts after gifts upon the race of man, the symbols of which are the two sixes of loaves thus placed on the table.”

“in accordance with the arrangement of the equinoxes; for there are two equinoxes every year,”

A new moon or month on or “after” the equinox is not the month in which the equinox takes place or occurs! Philo is not speaking of the Solar Calendar on which the Roman system was based after Julius Ceasar. Philo says specifically that the Month occurs from one New Moon to the next and which is on the day in which the conjunction occurs. See the Special Laws on the Third festival or the New Moon. The New Year is always the New Moon nearest the equinox when an intercalary year inserts Adar II or We Adar in to intercalate the Lunar calendar. The Intercalation occurs in the sacred year 2016/2017 placing the New Moon on March 28 2017 after the equinox and not in March of 2016 that has occurred using the Babylonian Intercalations of Hillel. The assertion that the New Moon must always occur before the Equinox is a false interpretation and an incorrect reading of Philo.

So also we can see from Josephus Antiquities of the Jews – Book III

CHAPTER 10. CONCERNING THE FESTIVALS; AND HOW EACH DAY OF SUCH FESTIVAL IS TO BE OBSERVED. 5. “In the month of Xanthicus, which is by us called Nisan, and is the beginning of our year, Thus Hillel is wrong with the New year in Rosh Hashanah or the Autumn. In 2016 Hillel has Roshashanah in October or the Eighth Month beginning after the Northern Equinox. http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/josephus/ant3.html

See also Antiquities of the Jews – Book I

CHAPTER 3. CONCERNING THE FLOOD; AND AFTER WHAT MANNER NOAH WAS SAVED IN AN ARK, WITH HIS KINDRED, AND AFTERWARDS DWELT IN THE PLAIN OF SHINAR, 3. This calamity happened in the six hundredth year of Noah’s government, [age,] in the second month, (14) called by the Macedonians Dius, but by the Hebrews Marchesuan: for so did they order their year in Egypt. But Moses appointed that · Nisan, which is the same with Xanthicus, should be the first month for their festivals, [March April and not April Mar as in 2016 with Hillel ed] because he brought them out of Egypt in that month: so that this month began the year as to all the solemnities they observed to the honor of God, although he preserved the original order of the months as to selling and buying, and other ordinary affairs. At the beginning of the second year, on the month Xanthicus, as the Macedonians call it, but on the month Nisan, as the Hebrews call it, on the new moon, they consecrated the tabernacle, and all its vessels, which I have already described.”

http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/josephus/ant1.html

The history is clear on what the Temple calendar was and the lies of the Jews and Armstrongites should be treated with utter contempt. The Church has a responsibility to study the facts of the Temple Calendar and reject outright that which is not true.

Appendix B

JUBILEE

Leviticus 25:20-22

20: And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:

21: Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.

22: And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store. (KJV)

One True God:

God exist-Why is God eternal-Many names for God-Which name, which entity-Elohim/Eloah-Elohim plural-How many elohim-Jehovah/Jehovah of Hosts-SHD 3068/3069-Two different beings-God look on sin-God and His Law

Spiritual Creation:

Angel of YHVH: Is Christ YHVH-Worship the son-Great Angel OT-Who spoke to Abraham-Who did Moses see-Who talked to Moses and Aaron

Sons of God: How many sons of God-Difference in heavenly beings-24 Thrones/Elders-4 living creatures-4 rivers/4 Cherubim-Lion headed systems-Who are the host-Cause of rebellion-Cherub rebel-Rebellion-Fallen host repent-Angels male or female Lucifer: Meaning of Lucifer-Satan still has access to God-Satan not always evil- Abaddon/Apollyon Angels: Function of angels-Can we recognise angels-Pray to angels

Physical Creation:

Nephilim: Humans before Adam-Pre/post Adam DNA-Nephilim not resurrected Adam and Eve: Why create man-Mankind’s destiny-Adam rebuke Eve-Life before Adam-Children’s stories-Apple forbidden fruit-Different races-Vegetables or meat first-Physical condition early people Noah: Origin or faces from Noah-Flood worldwide-Noah’s faith Abraham: Blessings for Hagar/Ishmael

The Law:

Two tablets of stone-6 and 4 or 5 and 5-First Commandment-Sabbath-Reading the law Society: Uncleanness until sundown-Not coming near wives-Childbirth-Garments etc-Swearing-Violence on innocent-Death penalty-Tattoos-Owe no man-Gambling Food Laws: Mushrooms-Supplements-Pork and fish-Eating meat-Food and ten commandments Tithes and Offerings: 3 or 7 offerings-Atonement tax-Stealing from God

Israel:

12 Judges-Kings-Numbering of tribes-Order of tribes-Moses: Broken tablets-Wife and children-Hosts of Pharaoh-Red sea-Seven-day march-Fall of Jericho- Red cords-Blood on doorposts-Idols and Images: Golden idol-Why a calf-Worship of images-Golden calf/golden cross-Divisions of Israel

Joshua…Joshua’s life-12 rocks/12 apostles-2 spies

Judges…Judges 9:7-21;–Judges 19-Gideon 70 sons-Samson’s hair-Riddle to 30

Ruth…Ruth’s kinsman

1Samuel…1Samuel 1:6-17:40-David

1Kings…1Kings chapter 6

2Kings…2Kings chapter 2

Esther…Esther 9:13 Nuremburg Trials

Job…7 sons 3 daughters-Job of Genesis 46:13

Psalms…Psalm 82-Psalm 187

Proverbs…Proverbs 8 and 9-Proverbs 31

Ecclesiastes…Ecclesiastes 7:1-Birthdays

Prophets:

Isaiah…Isaiah 19:23-Isaiah 65:1-6-Isaiah 1:29

Jeremiah…Jeremiah 4:15ff

Ezekiel…Ezekiel 46:20;-26:21;-Exekiel’s Temple-Ezekiel 20:37-38

Daniel…Daniel 12:1-2;-2:43;-7:9-10;-Daniel and 3 in oven-Lion’s den

Hosea…Hosea 2:15

Joel…Joel 2:23

Micah…Micah 6:4;-5:5

Zechariah…Zecariah 14:16-19

God’s Calendar:

Full moon-Time lost-Number 7-Jubilees: What is a Jubilee-How to count-Blown on Atonement-5 months in 50^th or 1^st year-End of Jubilee Feasts: Where does he place his name-Assemblies of God-Fat of the Feast-Pentecost: Shavuot-Trumpets: Trumpets blown-Feast of Shofar-New Year-Atonement: Meaning-Tribute tax-Half Shekel

***********************************

FAQ Old Testament

One True God

Why do you believe that God exists?

A: It is written only a fool says in his heart that there is no God. The entire structure of the creation demands that God exist: From the Laws of Thermodynamics to the phase space volume selection of the universe and Quantum Mechanical theory. The philosophical basis of Causation is singularist and not supervenient. Why would you think that there is no God?

Why do you think God is eternal? The fact that God created us should not mean that God never dies. Maybe your God just had special power to create the whole world and maybe His life has just been very long, of years old.

A: God stands outside of time and space. The Bible is very clear that there is only One True God, whom no man has ever seen or ever can see (John 1:18), and who dwells in unapproachable light and who alone is immortal (1Tim. 6:16).

We know this to be true as the phrase “space volume selection of the universe” is held to be a factor of ten to the tenth, to the 123rd power. It cannot be written in normal denary notation, even if the entire substructure of matter in the universe were to be used. In other words, there is a point of origin, and only one for the entire universe.

We now know from the general theory of relativity and subsequent quantum mechanical theory and its adaptations that a substructure, which we call “quarks”, underpins the basis of matter.

We know from the decay of “K Mesons” that there is directionality to time. We know that the structure of matter in the universe is a directional structure in which Space, Time Mass, Energy and Gravity are equivalent expressions of a single fundamental essence, and that essence we call spirit. The Bible is understood to teach us that God creates it “ex nihilo” or “out of nothing”. This was also the doctrine of the Shepherd of Hermas, the earliest of the writings not now included in the New Testament.

God created the entire spiritual realm, and then he created the physical. This is examined in the papers How God Became a Family (No. 187) and The Purpose of the Creation and the Sacrifice of Christ (No. 160). The structure of the creation and the logical necessity of Singularist Causation and the impossibility of Absolute Creation in the work is shown in Creation: From Anthropomorphic Theology to Theomorphic Anthropology (No. B5).

I see in my concordance that there are multiple words in Hebrew that are translated as “God.” Do they all mean the same thing? Why do the Hebrews have so many words for God?

A: No, they don’t all mean the same thing. The various names for God are a function of His activity in the creation. Also, beings carry the name “God” and “Yahovah” when they act for the one true God. The name of God in the singular is “Eloah.” “Elohim” is a plural name, which can be used of singular beings.

In the same way “Yahovah” is used of multiple beings of the angelic host including Christ, but “Yahovih” is not so used. “Yahovih” is “Yahovah of Hosts” who is the “Most High” or the “Elyon.” The term “I am that I am” is a corruption of this idea. The text is “ ‘eyeh ‘asher ‘eyeh” or “I will be what I will become.” The term, “Yahovah” is “He causes to be” as a third person form (see fn. to Exodus 3:14 in the Oxford Annotated RSV). The names of God in the various forms are covered in the texts The Names of God (No. 116) and The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243).

I am confused as to the different names given in the Bible for God. I have read your papers and all makes sense, but it does not tell which name is for which entity. For example, how do you know in Genesis 1:1 that this Elohim is the One True God in the Spirit? In verse 26 it states, “Let us make man in our own image…” That sounds like the plural Elohim and not the One True God. Then I look at 2:4 and on and it states, “YHVH Elohim.” Who is the Elohim in 1:1 and who is YHVH Elohim in 2:4 and how do you know how to distinguish between them? It does say in 2:4 that YHVH Elohim created the Heavens and the Earth. Were they created by YHVH Elohim through His Elohim(s)?

A: Yes, this is a very important question. We have this basic rule. No man has ever seen God, neither heard His voice, nor seen His form (Jn. 1:18). We have this from the mouth of Christ and reinforced by John and Paul. Thus, the beings that are referred to in the Bible as Elohim who were seen or touched were sons of God and not the One True God. This One True God dwells in unapproachable light and no man has seen Him or ever can see Him. All that was experienced by man was delivered by the Great Angel of the Old Testament, who gave the Law to Moses and who became Jesus Christ, or those other sons of God who worked with him and who also bore the name of God. Look at the papers The Names of God (No. 116) and The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243). The One True God, Eloah has created all things by His will and all beings act under His will.

Am I to conclude that we do not know which elohim it is referring to in Genesis 1:1 and it really does not matter because all the Elohim are acting under the direction of Eloah? Do you think it is the sons of Eloah it is referring to because of the plural used in verse 26? So everything was created through the Elohim for Eloah?

A: The word God in Genesis 1:1 refers to Eloah and the first act of creation already completed, which was the extension of Himself as Elohim. Thus, the extended being is Elohim and He creates as Elohim because it involves multiple beings.

Job 38:4-7 shows the concept. He created and the sons of God were gathered together and the Morning Stars sang for joy at the creation of the earth. Thus, all were elohim under the One True God (cf. Jn. 17:3). It is irrelevant who was allocated tasks from the primary creation, which was the generation of the elohim from Eloah. Look at the papers How God Became a Family (No. 187) and The Government of God (No. 174).

Could you explain and define the Hebrew word for God, “Elohim”? Isn’t this a plural word? Are we to understand that it encompasses the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

A: The Hebrew word “Elohim” is a plural word meaning both “God;” and “Gods” plural, depending on its use. The singular word for God is “Eloah.” This is “Elahh” in Chaldean. The plural word for God in Chaldean is “Elahhin’” which is the same meaning as Elohim. “The God” is referred to as “Ha Elohim.” The Arabic came from the eastern Aramaic or Chaldean and that is why the Arabic word for God in the singular is “Allah’.” Elohim extends to cover all the sons of God as a council of elohim and a body of spirit beings. The Bible refers to the elohim as a plurality and elohim is rendered as “aggelos” in Greek and “angels” in English. For example, Psalm 8:5 says of Messiah that “Thou hast made him a little lower than the elohim.” This is translated in the English of the KJV as “angels” from the rendering in the Septuagint (LXX) as “aggelos”. The same is true in the Vulgate, and the Syriac. Thus, it was generally understood for three hundred years before and after Christ that the “elohim” were the “sons of God” who were termed “messengers” or “angels.” This text is also rendered “angels” in Hebrews 2:7. The Angel of the Old Testament is also an elohim. Psalm 97:7 also refers to the elohim as a wider council of elohim. It is a very important and interesting point, which is obscured by the Trinitarian system (see the paper Psalm 8 (No. 14)). The Trinity is a pagan system of the Triune God, which was introduced from Rome in the fourth century. Look also at the papers The Elect as Elohim (No. 1); The Angel of YHVH (No. 24); The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243); Creation: From Anthropomorphic Theology to Theomorphic Anthropology (No. B5) and The Soctratic Doctrine of the Soul (No. B6).

In Genesis 1:26 it says man was created in the image of Elohim. In 2:7 it says that YHVH Elohim formed man of the dust. In Revelation 21:17 it refers to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. It seems to me that it is talking about two different men and maybe two different Gods. Are the words in the ancient text for man in all the places that I referenced the same word? Are we talking about the same beings?

A: The Bible does speak of various elohim. The elohim are a council, as we know from the Psalms and elsewhere. The text in Revelation speaks of the measure of a man as the measure of an angel, and that tells you that we are all brethren and made in the image of God. This aspect also has ramifications about the angelic host. We are all to become brothers and part of the City of God where God is all in all. Look at the paper The City of God (No. 180).

Are Jehovah and Jehovah of Hosts one and the same, or are we talking about different beings?

A: We are talking about different beings. Yahovah or Jehovah in English (there is no J in Hebrew) was allotted Israel as his possession by the Most High (Deut. 32:8 esp. RSV). The Most High or “Elyon” is Yahovah of Hosts. All beings who act for Yahovah of Hosts have the title, “Yahovah.” Christ was the key figure in the Old Testament as the Great Angel of Yahovah who had this title, but there were others. In Genesis, chapters 18 and 19, we see three Yahovahs who came to see Abraham. The senior remained with Abraham and the other two went on to Lot at Sodom.

They destroyed Sodom by calling down fire from Yahovah in Heaven. Thus there were four there and the One in Heaven who sent the fire down on Sodom. That One is Yahovah of Hosts. He sent Messiah to the world as the giver of the Law and as the protector of Israel. Look also at the papers The Names of God (No. 116); The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243); The Angel of YHVH (No. 24) and Early Theology of the Godhead (No. 127). The creation had a purpose and Christ had a role in the creation given to him by “Yahovah of Hosts” who is “Yahovih” (cf. The Purpose of the Creation and the Sacrifice of Christ (No. 160)).

In your writings you make a distinction between Yahovah (SHD 3068) and Yahovih (SHD 3069). You state that Yahovih (3069) is superior to Yahovah (3068). It is my understanding that the original script is just the Tetragrammaton that is translated YHVH with no vowels. If I am correct, how did the translators come up with 2 different versions of the word and make one superior to the other when they both were YHVH?

A: The Hebrew Text has preserved these distinctions. The alteration by the Sopherim of “Yahovah” to “Adonai” is a basis for the vowel point argument from Adonai. Look at the comments in Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary for 3068 and 3069. You will see there the distinctions. 3068 is read as “Adonai” and 3069 is read as “elohim.”

I was reading the paper Law and the Second Commandment (No. 254) and in Deuteronomy 11:17 ‘Lord’ is referenced both ways in the same verse. Is this a misprint or are we talking about 2 different beings? If so please explain the difference. Also explain 2Corinthians 6:17-18.

A: The word translated “Lord” in the text is “Yahovah” (SHD 3068) (cf. Green’s Interlinear Bible). The Septuagint makes no distinction in the use of “Kurios,” and it is also translated the same way.

In 2Corinthians 6:17-18, it is speaking of the “Lord Almighty” and there is no distinction. There is a distinction between the entities, as in Zechariah 2:8-11. The “Yahovah” sent to save Israel and Jerusalem is sent by “Yahovah of Hosts.” This is the distinction in Psalm 45:6-7 and seen in Hebrews 1:8-9 as “Messiah.”

Can God look on sin? I heard a sermon where the minister said “God can’t look on sin, that’s why Christ said ‘my God, my God, why have you forsaken me’ as he bore the sins of the world.” Is this true?

A: Yes, God can look on sin but we ask Him not to (Ps. 51:9ff.; Isa. 59:2).

That statement is a myth spread by people who have never read the Psalms properly. The text spoken by Christ was an Aramaic form of the Hebrew in Psalm 22:1. In Psalm 22:24 we read that God did not hide his face from him.

The events in Psalm 22 all refer to Christ and his actual crucifixion. Verse 24 says:

“For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Neither has He hid His face from him; But when he cried unto Him, He heard.”

This fiction is designed to deal with the concept of the reparation for sin without real understanding or acknowledging the Wave Sheaf offering and the true concepts of the Passover. Because they do not obey God’s laws and kept pagan systems, they do not understand Scripture and the Laws of God. The matter of the crucifixion and the aspects of Psalm 22 are examined in the papers on the web at http://www.ccg.org and http://www.logon.org

Ezra 9:15 refers to God being righteous, and Psalm 119:172 refers to God’s Law being righteous. Is there a connection between God and His Law?

A: God is holy (Ps. 145:17), perfect (Mat. 5:48), righteous (Ps. 145:17), good (Ps. 25:8) and true (Deut. 32:4) and His Law is holy (Rom. 7:12), perfect (Ps. 19:7), righteous (Ps. 119:172), good (Rom. 7:12), and true (Ps. 119:142). This is because the Law proceeds from the nature of God and not from His whim. This is analysed in the papers Distinction in the Law (No. 96) and Love and the Structure of the Law (No. 200).

Spiritual Creation

Angel of YHVH

It was my understanding that “YHVH of Hosts” is the Father and the King is Christ (Zech. 9:9), but in Zechariah 14:16 we are told “all shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts.” Does Christ also have this title “YHVH of Hosts” or is this speaking of “worshipping” both the King and YHVH of Hosts?

A: Christ is given the names he is by the Father and acts for the Father under His delegation. God is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and yet we see Christ coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords strapped, as a title, to his thigh (Rev. 19:15-16). Only Yahovah of Hosts is worshipped and as such He is King. The title is given to Christ as it is also given to the elect.

Christ is also given a new name in this process, which will also be written on the elect (Rev. 3:12). We have all been redeemed to be a nation of kings and priests (cf. Rev. chs. 4 and 5 for the council and their statements about the saints and the Messiah).

Because some of these titles given to Christ overlap with titles ascribed to Almighty God, many have misconstrued the intent and believed that Christ is somehow God as God is God, being part of a Trinitarian, Binitarian or Ditheistic Godhead.

This is not the case. These titles given to Christ all convey the concept of delegated authority, even as the Mal’ak of YHVH was termed YHVH and Elohim because he represented YHVH of Hosts (Eloah). See the papers Isaiah 9:6 (No. 224) and The Names of God (No. 116))

In Daniel 2:45 we read about the Stone that was cut out of the Mountain and then in Daniel 7:13-14 we read about the coronation of the Son before the Ancient of Days. It appears the Son came from the Father differently than all the other creation. It almost seems like a type of cloning the Father did on Himself. Could you comment on this? If this is different from the creation of angels and the physical creation, then it would be quite acceptable to “worship” the Son in addition to the Father. He really would be in the Father and the Father in Him.

A: Christ was generated by God in the same way all the sons of God were generated by God. Christ was sent to earth in a different way and was the “only born god,” the “monogenes Theos” of John 1:18. The vision of Daniel 2 is covered in the papers on the nature of God series of the Bible Study Program (No. B1). Look especially at the paper How God Became a Family (No. 187).

No, it would not be acceptable to worship the Son as the Father. The Bible is clear that he who sanctifies and they who are sanctified are of one origin (Heb. 2:11). The doctrine that Father and Son were one God, and the son was worshipped and came to be sacrificed is the doctrine of Attis, and entered Christianity in the Council of the fourth century. “Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us?”(Mal. 2:10)

Who was the great Angel who was with Israel in the Old Testament?

A: The belief of the Church in the first and second centuries was that this was Christ. He gave the Law of God to Moses. Justin Martyr, in writing to the Roman Emperor (ca. 150) in his “First Apology,” states categorically that it was the belief of the Christian Church that the Great Angel of the Old Testament who gave the Law to Moses was Christ. That is the teaching of the Original Catholic Church. See also www.originalcatholicchurch.org. Look at the papers The Angel of YHVH (No. 24); The Early Theology of the Godhead (No. 127) and The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243).

Who was it who spoke to Abraham? Was it Jesus? Who destroyed the cities?

A: It was the angel of Yahovah who became Jesus Christ. He was termed Yahovah, as were the other two angels who came with him to meet Abraham, and then the other two Yahovahs went on to Lot at Sodom and Gomorrah. They (Yahovah) then called fire down on the cities from Yahovah out of Heaven (Gen. 19:24). This Yahovah in Heaven was Yahovah of Hosts or Yahovih. These matters are explained in the papers: The Elect as Elohim (No. 1); The Angel of YHVH (No. 24); The Names of God (No. 116) and The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243).

If no man has seen God as John states, then who was it that Moses saw? Didn’t he see God?

A: No, Moses did not see the One True God. Christ said no man has seen his form or heard his voice at any time so also repeated by John and Paul (Jn. 1:18; 1Jn. 5:20; 1Tim. 6:16). The belief of the early Church was that the Angel of the Old Testament that gave the Law to Moses was Christ. See the papers The Angel of YHVH (No. 24); The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243) and Early Theology of the Godhead (No. 127).

In Exodus (referring to the 10 plagues) who was giving Aaron and Moses instructions for the pharaoh?

A: The being that was with Israel in the wilderness was the rock that was Christ. He was the Angel of the Old Testament who gave the Law to Moses at Sinai. This was the teaching of the original Church and it is the teaching of the Church today (cf. Justin Martyr, First Apology). Look at the papers: The Angel of YHVH (No. 24); Early Theology of the Godhead (No. 127) and The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243).

Sons of God

How many sons of God does the Bible say there are?

A: The sons of God are mentioned in the texts in the Old Testament, but no number is given. Deuteronomy 32:8 shows the nations were allocated to the sons of God according to their number (this was altered later in the Masoretic Text but the RSV has the text correct). So we have 70 by tradition for this, but we know it was much more than that from the vision in Elijah. Job 1:6; 2:1; and 38:4-7 just mentions the sons of God and the Morning Stars.

Job 33:23 indicates there are a thousand in the structure capable of ransoming men. We get the term “myriads” used of them and the term “armies” is also applied to them (Rev. 19:14). The book of Revelation gives a number of 200 million horsemen which are marshalled by the four angels bound at the Euphrates for the time appointed to slay a third of mankind (Rev. 9:16). These may well be men and not of the heavenly host.

We have no way of knowing if this reference is an exhaustive number or not. Thus, the number of the sons of God, sometimes termed Messengers, in the texts is perhaps 200 Million, but certainly numbered as armies. Perhaps they are as many as people have been since Adam. We will know when we get to The City of God (No. 180) and are joined with them as a living Temple and residence for God and the Lamb.

Could you explain the differences between all the heavenly beings – sons of God, Angels, Cherubim, Nephilim? Are all sons of God Angels, and all Angels sons of God?

A: All the heavenly host are sons of God. The ones sent to mankind are messengers, termed angels. These are in ranks and positions: Cherubim, Seraphim, and Morning Stars. All are sons of God. Christ is one of them.

The Nephilim are the product of the fallen host. See the paper The Nephilim (No. 154). They have no resurrection. The demons are the sons of God who fell from grace. We will all be Sons of God. Look at the papers How God Became a Family (No. 187); The Government of God (No. 174) and The Elect as Elohim (No. 1).

Can you explain in a nutshell about the 24 thrones and 24 elders?

A: The inner council of the elohim has thirty beings. These thirty are comprised of the twenty-four elders under the High Priest, who is Messiah. The four Living Creatures are the cherubim around the throne of God. They have the elders allocated to them on the basis of two to a system, with three systems making six to a division. God is in the centre at the throne. This makes thirty.

There are others who then make up the council of the seventy. This structure was reflected in the system in Israel, and at the Tabernacle and the Temple. The twenty-four division high priests and the High priest reflected the council of the elders. The seventy plus two reflected the outer council. Israel was divided into four divisions of twelve tribes, three tribes to a division, and with the priesthood of Levi at the tabernacle or throne (see Numbers 10). The divisions of the priesthood were allotted to the division of the tribes. The structure is also covered in the paper The Government of God (No. 174). Look also at How God Became a Family (No. 187).

What are the 4 living creatures and of what importance are they?

A: The Four Living Creatures are the anointed covering Cherubs that stand before the throne of God. The Ark carries two on the Lapporah or cover and another two stand over them. Look at the papers The Ark of the Covenant (No. 196) and The Meaning of Ezekiel’s Vision (No. 108). The paper The Government of God (No. 174) explains their function.

The four living creatures and the Council discharge function within the Host related to administration and judgment. They are in effect quadrant commanders of the universe and cover the throne of God.

The living creatures represent the four stages of the history of the priesthood and Israel. The first stage was the tabernacle of the wilderness and the Judges. The second stage or cherub was as the first Temple from Solomon to the captivity. The third stage was from the reestablishment after the return to the destruction in 70 CE and the fourth stage was as the era of the seven churches until the return of the Messiah.

Each stage is as a covering cherub that protects the throne of God and by human hands (under the wings) accomplishes His purpose on earth. The living creatures have been described elsewhere in the Bible but the symbolism of the form has a much deeper meaning than that of a created oddity with four different faces. In Revelation 4:6-8 we see the same faces but separate as four living creatures each with one of the faces but with six wings.

Do the four rivers flowing from Eden have anything symbolically to do with the four Cherubim around the throne of God?

A: Yes, symbolically the rivers represent the four divisions of the creation. The creation and the role of the cherubim have been examined in a number of works. These are The Government of God (No. 174); The Purpose of the Creation and the Sacrifice of Christ (No. 160); The Doctrine of Original Sin Part I The Garden of Eden (No. 246) and How God Became a Family (No. 187).

You referred to the man and lion-headed systems; what are the roles or duties of these positions?

A: They are the quadrant commanders of God’s system. They are anointed covering cherubs, and they also appear as such in the Temple in Ezekiel. Revelation shows that they are at the throne of God. They occupy the position senior to the 24 elders, and they are seen in Ezekiel chapter 1 et seq where they are identified as the Cherubim. They have set areas of responsibility as we see from the fact that they do not change their orientation no matter where the throne is headed. Look at the papers: The Meaning of Ezekiel’s Vision (No. 108); How God Became a Family (No. 187); The Government of God (No. 174) and The City of God (No. 180).

Please give me as much information about the Hosts as you can. Who exactly are they, how many, their function and roll? Was Jesus part of the Host?

A: The Host are the sons of God. They are called messengers only from the fact of their mission to man. Angel is a derivation of the Greek word for messenger. “Malak” in the Hebrew has become “Malaikat” in the Arabic, and on into the Indonesian etc.

The Host are centred on the throne of God and serve Him. Christ was one of those sons of God in the beginning. The process is explained in the papers How God Became a Family (No. 187); The Government of God (No. 174) and The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243).

We are to become sons of God and elohim and that is covered in the paper The Elect as Elohim (No. 1). The Meaning of Ezekiel’s Vision (No. 108) also has information of interest regarding the Cherubim. How we all fit together is covered in the paper The City of God (No. 180).

What was the cause of the rebellion of the host?

A: It was always understood as being their objection to our creation. The Koran gives this as the specific reason. That is why Satan is the accuser of the brethren. They accuse us night and day to God. Look at the papers How God Became a Family (No. 187) and The Government of God (No. 174). Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son (No. 199) is also of interest in this matter as is The Judgment of the Demons (No. 80).

Could a cherub rebel and lose his position? If so what does the future hold for him?

A: Yes one, Satan, and perhaps two did rebel. They can repent like all of God’s sons. Look at the paper The Judgment of the Demons (No. 80) and also Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son (No. 199). God’s mercy endures forever.

If one third of the host rebelled and there are 30 in the inner council one could speculate 10 rebelled. Is that why there are 10 components; 7 church eras, 2 witnesses, and Messiah needed to repair the problem/breach created by the hosts rebellion?

A: One might speculate that way and it would seem logical; however, the figures used by the Satanist cells are of the order of twelve/twelve. It seems they actually might have got more from the inner council than a third. However, over all they got a third as it says. Perhaps it was two cherubs and the ten. We will know when we get to Jerusalem and Christ gives us new information.

The ten components of the Temple are not related to individuals, save in the Messiah and the two witnesses. The seven are churches unless we identify the seven angels of the seven churches as potential replacements in the host, and the human elements as the new section.

If the fallen angelic host (the demons) can repent and still become sons of God, then maybe you believe that the unrepentant demons will be killed forever? What is the difference then, between us and them? Are people just another more creative way of doing the same thing that is done with angels?

A: Yes, that is the answer. The human creation with the family system was another way of giving the angels similar responsibilities of the human family, but with greater oversight. When Satan objected to our creation and the third of the host objected and rebelled with him, they were then given responsibility for us. They became our accusers instead of our spiritual parents. They became an obstruction to the plan and our salvation. After the final rebellion at the end of the Millennium, the demons will be reduced to physical form and die. This is the sense of being brought down to the side of the Pit and to die like any man, as we see in Ezekiel 28 and also the same sense in Isaiah 14. This aspect has been examined in the paper The Fall of Egypt The Prophecy of Pharaoh’s Broken Arms (No 36) and Lucifer: Light Bearer and Morning Star (No. 223). They will then be placed within the physical resurrection at the Second or General Resurrection of the Dead. One can imagine the difficulties they will face when dealt with, in examining their roles over the last 6000 years and the havoc they caused even by simply failing to prevent false action, let alone actually inducing it in the human host.

It was probably to escape this accounting that they developed the theory and doctrine among the mystery cults, especially the Orphic, of the daemon among the humans which was a fallen theos or god, and which had to be purged in order to return to heaven. The inducement of humans in the endeavour was probably a reaction and a desire to be returned to their former estate without enduring the process of the second and physical resurrection under the human elect of the First Resurrection.

The soul doctrine is an invention of Socrates of the “psuche” in reaction to the Orphic doctrines, and from which we get the immortal soul and which later went to the heaven of the Gnostics. The eternal soul is another lie, on the same vein as demons cannot die and they cannot repent. Christ was reduced from one of the elohim to the form of a man and he died on the cross, was resurrected and ascended into heaven. If he could do that, then so can any one of the demons. God has no limitations in the creation. Look at the papers The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243); The Judgment of the Demons (No. 80); The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143); The Soul (No. 92); Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son (No. 199)and The Socratic Doctrine of the Soul (No. B6).

I have read up on the paper entitled The Nephilim (No. 154). The angels involved in this sin to create Nephilim were clearly male in origin. So, does that mean that all the spiritual creation is closer to a male type as we understand male and female, or are there also spirit beings that would be closer to the female species?

A: The sons of God have the capacity to materialise in whatever form. If they can appear as a man, they can also appear as a woman and do appear as women often, hence Fatima etc. They appeared as Balaam’s donkey in one instance. Satan is termed the serpent and may well have literally appeared to Eve in that guise. We make the mistake of thinking that the Spirit world is just another copy of this one. We see through a glass darkly.

The Spirit world has the capacity to move through time and space without the limitations we understand or think within. Mass, space, time, gravity and energy are equivalent expressions of the single fundamental essence we understand as spirit. Some of our scientists have made the error of assuming an immanent God from this basis.

The sons of God were all gathered together here when the world was created. Their leaders, the Morning Stars, sang for joy. Satan was among them as a Morning Star and the anointed Covering Cherub. The function of woman was the capacity by which God would produce more sons of God.

Demons appeared as men to interfere with the creation. They may well have become women but then they would have been tied to the creation and the upbringing of the cuckoos they laid. They were probably emotionally immature for that responsibility without the Holy Spirit of God. Also, the woman was the one they influenced. They lost the Holy Spirit when they finally rebelled and were cast from heaven. They then had to produce the pseudo logon. Thus, they are no longer consubstantial. Look at the paper Consubstantial with the Father (No. 81).

We will all be asexual in the resurrection. The second physical resurrection also seems to demand that asexuality. Look at the paper The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143) and Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272).

Are you aware of any scriptures besides Psalm 8:5 that refer to spirit beings (other than the Father and the One that became Christ) as elohim?

A: Yes, there are a few texts. Moses is referred to as an elohim in Exodus 7:1. Abraham is referred to as an elohim in the original Hebrew text in Genesis 23:6, which is termed Mighty Prince in the English.

Satan is referred to as an elohim or theoi in various texts. Paul says there are many theoi (theoi polloi) or elohim in the New Testament. Zechariah 12:8 said that the household of David will become elohim with the Angel of Yahovah (Jehovah) at our head. It is written: “I said ye are gods and Scripture cannot be broken” (Jn. 10:34-35). Look at the paper The Elect as Elohim (No. 1).

Psalm 45:6-7 says that Christ, our elohim, was anointed with the oil of gladness above his partners. Thus, there is a council. Psalm 82 deals with this aspect. The other references are covered in that paper. Also look at the The Angel of YHVH (No. 24).

Are the 1000 sacrifices offered by Solomon in the Tabernacle referring to the council of the 1000 sons of God? Just as Job 33:23-24 talks of one of 1000 and redemption through Messiah; or Genesis 20:16 mentions the 1000 pieces of silver to Abraham for the vindication of Sarah but the entire council needed the appeasement for the offence; or Song of Songs with 1000 shields (Eph. 6:16 shield of faith to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.) Bottom line, do all these scriptures tie to God’s administrative council of a 1000?

A: Yes, the reference in Genesis 20:16 is in fact an appeasement along the lines we see in Job, where the redemption was from one of the 1000. And the irony of Abimelech, in using the term brother, is because of the sin and damage he suffered.

The notion of being protected by the host is evident as well, as being redeemed by one of the 1000. This is fairly esoteric ground now. Nothing turns on it, other than the view that sin was an offence against God. That was why thirty pieces of silver was paid for Christ. Because it was an offence against the council and it was also deemed the price of a slave

Lucifer

What does the name Lucifer mean?

A: Lucifer means Light bearer. The name comes from his function as the Morning Star of this planet. It is an educative and controlling role which is taken up by Christ and the elect at the end of the age, in the not too distant future, for the millennial reign. The terms are covered in the paper Lucifer: Light Bearer and Morning Star (No. 223).

In remembering that Satan came before God with the angels as told in Job, I am wondering if he still has this access to God and does he still have influence on the angels?

A: Yes, he is the accuser of our brethren and he still has one third of the host under him. Some are held to have repented from the activities of the early Church. He is cast down and knows his time is short. Christ said He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Thus, he must be cast down. Revelation speaks of the short time and his fury against the Church because of that short time. We are in that time. In fact, we are past the 1260 years of the woman in the wilderness. The Fifth Seal is still continuing and the woman that rides the beast, who is drunk on the blood of the saints, is about to be destroyed. Look at the paper Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272) and also The Role of the Fourth Commandment in the Historical Sabbath-keeping Churches of God (No. 170).

I believe that Lucifer and Satan are one and the same being. This presents a bit of a problem though for this would mean that Satan was not always evil wouldn’t it? This is looking more like it may be true as Ezekiel 28:15 shows him being perfect from the day he was created. So how better can one be than perfection?

A: Lucifer was the anointed covering Cherub of the Throne of God and he was perfect among the sons of God. Lucifer means, “light bearer” and thus he was the educator of the host and Morning Star of the planet. See the paper Lucifer: Light Bearer and Morning Star (No. 223).

He and the fallen host became iniquitous. They sinned and tried to grasp equality with God. They failed in the test of faith. They became accusers of the brethren at the creation of Adam. Christ was not, and did not seek co-equality with God and did not try to grasp what was not His. He preferred to be given and earn the gift of power by obedience, and so He became a man and He humbled himself unto death, even death on the stake (Phil. 2:5-7). See the paper The Purpose of the Creation and the Sacrifice of Christ (No. 160).

He became a son of God in power by His resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4). See the paper The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243). All of God’s creation is perfect, but we have the choice to mess it up, and we have done so. The Plan is perfect and includes a safety net, so we will all attain to perfection in God’s time. Look at the paper Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272).

Some of my friends believe the earth is the place of restraint for the angels that sinned. In Luke 8:31 I read where the demons begged not to be cast into the deep or the Abyss. Also Revelation 9:11, 11:7,17:8, IPeter 3:19, IIPeter 2:4 and Jude 6 leads me to believe there is more to this than just the earth in general. Is Abaddon/Apollyon a king restrained also for a future release or is he the same as Satan? Where might this place be? The ocean possibly?

A: The New Testament term is also “Tartaros” which is reserved specifically for the fallen host. Abbadon or Appollyon is the destroyer and, as such, it is another term for Satan and the system he commands. The fallen host or demons have power over the earth and over mankind for 6000 years. At the return of the Messiah, Satan and the demons are restrained for the thousand years of the Millennium.

The pit is death and the texts indicate that the demons are made to die like any man. They are then dealt with in the Second Resurrection like anyone else. This matter has been examined in the papers The Judgment of the Demons (No. 80) and in Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son (No. 199). The timing of the activities is seen from the paper Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272).

Angels

When asked what is the function of angels or what are they, the most common answer heard is that they are simply messengers indicating that they are basically footmen or errand boys. This does not exactly add up. For instance, the 38th chapter of Job is an explanation to Job as to how everything was created. At verse 7, it says that the sons of God, shouted for joy at the creation. I believe sons of God here refers to the angels, so if they were already around at the creation of the earth, and before the creation of man, then what were they doing up to this point?

A: Yes, that is the point. Angel is from the Greek “aggellos” meaning “messenger” which was applied to the heavenly beings. In the Septuagint the word “aggellos” was used to translate various concepts. It was used to translate “Sons of God” in Deuteronomy 32:8. During the post-Temple period, Jewish scribes changed that to read “Sons of Israel” to get away from the concept of there being sons of God in charge of Israel, as Christ was associated with the Angel of Yahovah as a son of God.

The LXX of Isaiah 9:6 says, “Angel of Great Counsel” for the Messiah who was son of God. Job 1:6 and 2:1 use the term “Aggeloi”, “Angels of God” for the “sons of God.” The same is also in Job 38:4-7 where “angels” were used for “sons of God”. The understanding of the meaning of the Hebrew texts is starting to slip by this time. And the concept of the Hebrew Morning Stars is not well understood by the translators in the LXX translation. Nehemiah says they had to explain the Hebrew to the populace during his time because they no longer understood it, speaking only Aramaic.

Basically, an Angel was a messenger. Before the creation there was no one to carry messages to, and so they were simply all sons of God. When men were created they were sent to men as messengers, and so all of them who were in that capacity were angels. Look at the papers The Angel of YHVH (No. 24); The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243) and How God Became a Family (No. 187). For the long-term plan look at the paper The City of God (No. 180).

Were some people able to recognise angels as soon as they saw them and yet others did not? If they appear as humans are we supposed to know they are angels?

A: The Patriarchs recognised them, as we see by what they did and said in the Bible. It’s the “duck test.” If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. Sometimes they are with us and we are not informed. We entertain angels unawares (Heb. 13:2). God makes His wishes known through His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7).

These people speak for God. So too, the sons of God in the heavenly Host speak for God, and are sent to men as “angels” or messengers. Look at the papers on the sons of God for example The Angel of YHVH (No. 24) and How God Became a Family (No. 187).

I have been presented with Genesis 48:16 as a supporting scripture to pray to angels. What is the correct understanding of this text?

A: This text, and the comment by Stephen, is the only text in the Bible where Christ is addressed in prayer. Moses spoke to him face to face, and stood between him and Israel, as did David. David addresses him is Psalm 45:6-7. When he says: “Therefore God thy God has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy partners.” In each of the cases concerned, it is a direct request to Christ in his role as protector of Israel. Look at the paper The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243).

In each case they are used as teaching comments. How would we know that the Angel of Redemption was the elohim of Israel (Zech. 12:8; Heb. 1:8-9), appointed by his God, unless we had the direct testimony of the Patriarchs in the Scriptures to demonstrate this fact? They reflect the direct relationship of the prophets with Christ. We pray to and worship only the One True God.

Physical Creation

Nephilim

Were there human beings alive on this planet before Adam, and when was Adam created?

A: According to Bishop Ussher’s chronology, Adam was created in 4004 BCE. We know from archaeology that there were beings created on this planet before Homo Sapiens existed.

Thus, there was another creation prior to Adam. The discussion on what the Bible has to say about this is carried on in the works The Nephilim (No. 154) and Doctrine of Original Sin Part 2 The Generations of Adam (No. 248).

The interpretation of Genesis to confine the creation to the sons of Seth and the sons of Cain was an invention by Augustine of Hippo in the early fifth century. It denied the understanding of the ancients and left Christianity entirely unprepared to cope with the modern scientific finds of the last two hundred years. This one single false doctrine of Augustine has made the destruction of Creation theory with the false doctrine of evolution possible.

Are you aware of any information in the comparison of pre-Adam humanoid DNA and post-Adam DNA? Do you see any conflict with Bible scripture and archaeology finds?

A: Yes, recent tests made on the Neanderthals have isolated their DNA structure and it is a 27-strand system whereas a human is an 8-strand. We are trying to isolate the Cro-Magnon to see the exact divergence between it and modern humans. There seems to be a reluctance to discuss this issue of release of any results, if tests have in fact been done. What we have so far is indicative that modern primates are of a totally unrelated creation to the Neanderthals. The humanoids we have so far from Australia, such as the Arunka and Kowe Swamp people, have marked divergences from modern humans. Their mitochondrial DNA differs from modern humans. The Lake Nitchie Male was a giant. These aspects have been covered in the paper The Nephilim (No. 154).

I understand that the pre-Adamic creation was inferior and as stated in Isaiah has no resurrection. The Nephilim are not resurrected because they are not fit physical receptacles able to be acted upon by the Holy Spirit. Is this correct? After 6000 years of misrule of this planet multiple vectors such as viruses, transposons, etc that are able to insert foreign genetic material into our DNA could cause man to become nearly as corrupt as the Nephilim. If the fallen host were given a much longer time period than 6000 years, they could achieve what they tried to achieve with the Nephilim. Do you agree with this?

A: The solution is that the Creation was made in the image of God so that the Holy Spirit could be implanted or superimposed over it. The degradation of the species is certainly happening. It is probable that the limitation of the creation to 6000 years was to limit the degradation of the species by its genetic isolation and other problems. The lessening of the life spans indicates a problem. Also, it appears that there has been a deliberate attempt to interfere with the DNA makeup of humans by the Host through the pre-flood structure of the Nephilim.

There is no doubt that the Neanderthals were of a completely different system but the later structure was not. Neanderthals reportedly have a 27-strand system and the current primates have an 8-strand system. We have more in common with chimpanzee DNA than with the Neanderthals. Our capacity to survive may well be limited if it went any longer than 6000 years unchecked.

I’ve read several responses on resurrection and you state that the Nephilim have no resurrection, but Satan and his demons will have a chance to repent. Can you explain why?

A: The fallen host were all part of God’s Creation and were made in his image and through His will. They can repent and can be used. The Nephilim were not part of God’s Creation. They were made by the fallen host specifically to frustrate the Plan of God, and they are not in the image of God. Thus, they cannot function with the Holy Spirit as the demons are able to do.

God is obliged logically and morally to extend repentance to His Creation, but not to things created by the demons contrary to His Will. Thus, He will extend that capacity to the demons and they will be judged by us according to Scripture (1Cor. 6:3). In like manner, He has said that capacity will not be extended to the Nephilim. They have no resurrection (Isa. 26:14). Look at the papers The Judgment of the Demons (No. 80); The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143) and Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son (No. 199).

Noah was chosen to be saved in the Ark because his lineage was perfect. I understand that to mean that his lineage was not corrupted by the Nephilim. All these humans that were corrupted by the Nephilim and died in the flood would be resurrected wouldn’t they? If all of the Nephilim did not perish in the flood, are their descendants subject to resurrection or not?

A: No, the Nephilim/Rephaim have no resurrection as we know from Isaiah 26:13. The whole matter of who they were and what happened before and after the flood is covered in the paper The Nephilim (No. 154).

Adam and Eve

Why would God desire a physical human creation when He had already created spirit angelic beings to be sons of God? Why not just create more angels? What is the difference in the roles of entering His family?

A: This question is perhaps the most fundamental question to the plan of salvation. God could have made spiritual sons as many as He needed or wanted. Why then did he create a weaker physical creation that was then placed under the spiritual creation?

The same question then applies to the physical creation. Why did God create humans in a sequence of breeding animals that would suffer and perhaps die in the process? Why did they eventually die anyway? Why did He not create them all at once and simply educate them?

The answer is both simple and complex. In this way He would have to be obeyed and the entire creation would have to walk by faith. The angelic host would have to see the physical creation destined for some event as sons of God and would have to walk by faith and nurture them as ministering spirits as parents nurture children. The human creation could see even less and that is why faith exhibited in them is greater.

Satan used the creation to bring one third of the host to rebellion. These rebellious sons were then placed in charge of the creation to test both and to judge both.

The church is a group called out to test and judge the demons as they are measured against the standard we set. In the Millennium we will do the job they were set to do now under God’s laws. The demons decided to create another system with another structure of worship that does not work. So we see that the structure was made to ensure that the elect walked by faith and only those who exercise faith and obedience are made sons of God in power from the resurrection of the dead.

The sons of God had to be tested by faith and tested by their duties. Thus the spiritual creation was tested by the physical creation and both come to salvation together. Look at the papers How God Became a Family (No. 187); The Judgment of the Demons (No. 80); The Purpose of the Creation and the Sacrifice of Christ (No. 160) and The City of God (No. 180).

What is mankind’s ultimate destiny?

A: The purpose of the creation of man is to rule as God (Zech. 12:8). The name Israel means literally “he shall rule as God.” We were created to raise ourselves and the sons of God of the Angelic host in a sense of mutual interaction and shared responsibility. We are to get ourselves, and the Host, through the Resurrections to the City of God. Look at the papers The Purpose of the Creation and the Sacrifice of Christ (No. 160) and The City of God (No. 180). We will rule the heavens and we can only guess, at present, at what God has in store for us and the rest of the Host (1Cor. 2:9; Deut. 4:19).

In the Garden of Eden, why didn’t Adam rebuke Eve for eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, instead of following along with her?

It was his responsibility to rebuke her. He did not and the way we are dealt with was changed. However, God knew that he would do it and that it would also become necessary to send Christ to become leader as the slain lamb. We were written in the Book of the Lamb, The Book of Life and of the Resurrection from the foundation of the world.

Thus, God understood the events and they were provided for in the system of Salvation. Look at the papers The Doctrine of Original Sin Part I The Garden of Eden (No. 246) and Doctrine of Original Sin Part 2 The Generations of Adam (No. 248).

The Old Testament says that Adam was created about 5000 years before Jesus Christ, but actually there have been several civilisations like the Pharaohs in year 4200 BCE and the Chinese before that. Scientifically, they found some human bones dated millions of years back. How can we justify this contradiction?

A: According to Ussher’s chronology, which follows the Bible, Adam was created in 4005/4 BCE. The explanation of the pre-Adamic creation is contained in the paper The Nephilim (No. 154). Look also at the papers The Doctrine of Original Sin Part 1 The Garden of Eden (No. 246) and Doctrine of Original Sin Part 2 The Generations of Adam (No. 248).

Do you have any idea why so many of the children’s stories only represent Adam and Eve sinning and making themselves loin coverings of fig leaves (Gen. 3:7)? Most accounts stop the story there and do not explain the time frame, how Adam and Eve were being taught by God, or how even after their sin God made them garments of skin and clothed Adam and his wife (Gen.3:21).

A: The stopping of the text here is based on a number of false premises. Firstly, the efforts by them were man-made efforts and in contrast to the God-made clothing of animal skins. The emphasis is thus on the human effort and not on God’s effort (cf. Rom. 8:3).

The popular presentations are for a number of reasons. The Gnostics and their doctrines were ascetic vegetarians and wished to conceal the fact of the killing of animals and the consumption of meat. Look at the paper Vegetarianism and the Bible (No. 183).

The leaves also have symbolism among the mystery cults. Thus, they were portrayed more readily. The oak leaves are clearly condemned in the Bible. The priests of Attis in Rome also tattooed themselves with ivy leaves, which were sacred to their god. Thus, the leaf is often used in their symbols, as was the phallus or Asherah, and the kid.

Was the forbidden fruit really an apple? I don’t see that in my Bible, could you tell me where it says that Eve ate an apple?

A: The notion that Eve gave Adam an apple is not biblical. It comes from the myths and mysteries and is associated with the golden fruit of discord. The full story is contained in the paper The Doctrine of Original Sin Part 1 The Garden of Eden (No. 246).

I believe in God but one thing I have difficulty understanding is if “Adam and Eve” were supposedly the first humans on earth, then where did all the distinct races of man come from?

A: There is only one race, the human race. We are all brothers. The tongues were confused at Babel. It is a bit like the breeding of animals. The darker skinned people were basically developed, in terms of skin pigmentation, over many years. The fairer ones were in countries where they wore more clothing. However, they are still the same people with the same basic structure. The blood types or categories vary from east to west but they still have the same basic varieties.

In animal terms, we can say that the German Shepherd and the Sheepdog both come from the wolf, and not so long ago. Even though they look different they are both dogs. The creation is dealt with at The Doctrine of Original Sin Part 1 The Garden of Eden (No. 246) and the Doctrine of Original Sin Part 2 The Generations of Adam (No. 248). The pre-Adamic creation destroyed with the flood is covered in the paper The Nephilim (No. 154).

All variations of the human species are explicable in the variations we see occurring from pigmentation and family/tribal likenesses. The finds in the Choukoutien Cave in China indicate the coexistence of families with what we consider vast racial differences within what appears to be the one family group.

These findings by anthropologists are examined in the light of a series of humanoids that existed before modern man but which have no link to them. This matter is examined in the paper The Nephilim (No. 154). The matters have also been examined in the paper The Fall of Egypt (No. 36). This complex matter is too large to be explained here in detail.

God’s word teaches that it is incest to marry a brother or sister, yet how else could the family of Adam and Eve grow? Is it possible He made wives for the sons as He made one for Adam?

A: This matter is explained in the papers Rachel and the Law (No. 281) and Doctrine of Original Sin Part 2 The Generations of Adam (No. 248). It is also forbidden in other aspects, but Lot produced Ammon and Moab through his daughters contrary to Law. They perceived it as necessity knowing that the world would end by fire and they believed they were in that position then.

‘And Cain knew his wife’. Was she his sister? Why could she live alone before marriage, without being afraid of wild animals?

A: She may have been his sister or she may have been one of the Nephilim. It is likely that she was his sister as that was the only explanation for the sons of Adam keeping their generations pure. Look at the paper The Doctrine of Original Sin Part 1 The Garden of Eden (No. 246); Doctrine of Original Sin Part 2 The Generations of Adam (248) and The Nephilim (No. 154).

Did man eat vegetables or meat first? I say vegetables since they were easier to get than hunting meat.

A: It is believed man had a balanced diet from the beginning (Gen. 1:28-30). The Adamic species has a delineated process from the Bible record. This is covered in the papers The Doctrine of Original Sin Part I The Garden of Eden (No. 246) and Doctrine of Original Sin Part 2 The Generations of Adam (No. 248) and also Vegetarianism and the Bible (No. 183). The paper, The Nephilim (No. 154) might give you some other views of interest regarding the last 140,000 years.

There are divisions to this question. In the case of pre-Adamic man, the answer is both. Man was omnivorous and ate both fruits and also grubs and insects on them and in the trees. The body structure of vegetarians make for significant guts, and this is evidenced by Australopithecines skeletal reconstructions such as Lucy.

What was the physical condition of the early biblical people? Did they exercise? What do you know of their diet? What did they do when struck with an illness? Why were so many struck with leprosy and blindness? Didn’t they have a lot of knowledge of medicinal plants, oils and such?

A: Well, if the ages of the patriarchs are any indication, they were of a vastly superior diet and genetic structure than we are. It appears we have seen a degeneration in the age of man as we have gone from a longevity of 120 years to 70 years, and we are varying downwards on that due to other problems. The diet of the ancients can be seen from the paper The Food Laws (No. 15).

Also they had superior forms of grain then which had the necessary vitamins and minerals. We have developed superior yields, which have in many cases decreased benefit. They did get a lot of exercise because they walked everywhere, or rode horses and camels and donkeys. Their knowledge of drugs was reasonably high. We now have direct evidence that they imported tobacco and cocaine into the Middle East from America at the time of King David (ca. 1000 BCE). They had extensive use of herbs and medicines.

Our evidence also shows advanced surgery such as trepanning in early times. The failure to keep the quarantine laws resulted in the transmission of leprosy. Blindness often resulted from infections carried from birth through immorality, as it does to this day. They had a great capacity for navigation, and there was a sea and trading empire from Israel and Phoenicia from 1000 BCE onwards. There was degeneration in world conditions from the fourth century. In the sixth century there was a series of cataclysms, along with the attitude of the Church, which contributed to the Dark Ages. From this time, the world lost vast levels of knowledge and we are only now putting together what was actually lost.

Noah

In the past some ministers have said one of Noah’s sons was married to a black woman, one married an oriental woman and one married a white woman. This, they explain (or speculate), was to keep the 3 races alive. After the flood they separated by migrating. I have a hard time believing this and wonder if the true reason we have people of different colours is due to the environment and that we are all really the same “race”, the human race, with the same parents Adam and Eve. After all we see a type of evolution within the various “kinds” of animals depending on what part of the world they are from, etc. What do you think about the origin of the various “races”?

A: This view postpones the issue back to Adam (meaning the one who was ruddy or red). Another variation was that Noah had the capacity to throw hybrids, being pure in his generations. This is the real basis of the explanations. Every variety of dog on the planet came from two forms based on the wolf. The capacity to be in various forms was inherent in the early peoples.

Our finds in the Choukoutien Upper Cave in China (discovered 1930 excavated by Pei (1939, 1940) in 1933 show a peculiar group. This one group comprised of two adult males, two adult females, one adolescent, one child, and one baby showed a surprising spread of racial characteristics. The female skulls were a Melanesoid and an Eskimoid. Of the two adult males, one was elderly (estimated at 60), and was relative to the Obercassel skull but was defined as being primitive Mongoloid. Weidenreich (1939) defined these as being of three different racial types, primitive Mongoloid, Melanesoid and Eskimoid type (R.M. and C.H. Berndt, Aboriginal Man in Australia, 1965, p. 30).

Professor Berndt was of the view that current Australians are related to the ancient Egyptians and the Indian Dravidians. Egyptian relics have allegedly been found in some parts of Australia (cf. notes to I.L. Idriess’ Drums of Mer first edition re the ancient artefacts in the caves of the Zogo Le). There are also numerous boomerangs from the tomb of Tutankhamen now in the Egyptian museum.

The Choukoutien finds were in the one cave in the same strata, all living together so it seems. This indicates that the family groups, who resettled China, all had the diverse genetic capacity to encompass at least three racial groups in the one family system. This matter has not been fully examined from this point of view for obvious reasons.

The Epic of Gilgamesh states that Noah also took the artisans on board with their families as well. If looked at in this light, then the eight people were the heads of families and the women were not counted among the eight. This raises other matters as well. The eruption of the Nephilim is placed in the Midrash at the foot of Og, who allegedly stowed away on the top of the ark and Noah allowed him to remain. Look at the paper The Nephilim (No. 154).

The question of the diversity of current racial types is simply explained as one of pigmentation and localised breeding patterns. For example, one can tell someone from Manx as they have a peculiar line to their ears in relation to the jaw, which is not seen elsewhere in Britain. Pigmentation is simply resistance to the sun’s rays. Modern mapping of the genome and DNA shows we are all from the same ancestors, and not all that far back. The discussion is now merely where and how far.

Was Noah’s flood a worldwide catastrophe or was it limited to the Mediterranean area? If it was worldwide, how was it possible for Noah to gather all the species of plants and animals into the ark?

A: The Bible indicates it was worldwide. A localised flood scenario has been mooted to resolve the problems seen by geologists and archaeologists working to the current accepted theories of planet age. The Ark was basically a box that God told Noah to build, which Noah did, over a period of one hundred years.

The animals of the earth were the responsibility of God to collect, and he did so collect them. The genetic diversity of the animals was contained in the mother species, and they had the capacity over the following millennia to diversify. Plants did not need to be gathered as they were seed driven and simply germinated when conditions were ready, as they do now. The same is true with spores and others.

Many seeds were taken into the ark as well in the form of food supplies. With, for example, the desert plants and eucalyptus, fire is needed to germinate the seeds. Wood is preserved underwater for a long time, so all the forests were either swept to certain areas, as appears to be the case in the North Pole area with the trees and mammoths etc., or left in areas to generate, first through grass to start the next series off.

We are finding out more and more about the species of the planet. In fact, the procedures for mapping the human genome have shown that the entire creation is based on a similar model. All humans are 99.99 percent exactly the same, and so it is with other species. There is no race other than the human race, and most animals are of the one common species. Mammals are all based on a similar blue print.

We know that this is not so with the DNA of the Neanderthals for example as they are an entirely different structure to our DNA and even chimpanzees, with which we have more in common than the Neanderthals. Look at the paper The Nephilim (No. 154).

During a sermon, our pastor was preaching on faith. He made the statement, “Look at the faith of Noah. God told Noah to build the ark before he even had a family (a wife, three sons, and daughters-in-law).” He said if you will read this chronologically you will see that this is true. Can you explain this to me?

A: The Bible says at Genesis 6:10: “And Noah begat three sons Shem, Ham and Japeth.” He then proceeds to tell Noah (V. 14) that the earth is corrupt and orders him to build the ark. The sons helped to build the ark. Other versions of this flood account all agree in this aspect (cf. The Epic of Gilgamesh).

The genealogies, up to the flood, are covered in the paper Doctrine of Original Sin Part 2 The Generations of Adam (No. 248). The genealogy of Shem, the youngest son of Noah, is covered in the paper Melchisedek (No. 128).

Tower of Babel

What in your opinion was God’s purpose at the Tower of Babel? What do you think He was trying to accomplish?

A: The dispersion at Babel was to ensure that mankind did not become as elohim of their own accord and destroy the planet under Satan before time.

Satan had been given 6000 years as Morning Star of the planet. As it is Christ is going to have to return so that we are saved. If he did not there would be no flesh left alive. The plan of Salvation can be seen from the papers. Look at the papers Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272); Lucifer: Light Bearer and Morning Star (No. 223) and The Millennium and the Rapture (No. 95). There are also many other papers dealing with prophecy.

What exactly was happening at the tower of Babel, and why was God so worried about it? Seems to me there must have been a bit more going on there than just building a church with a tall steeple that would reach the heavens.

A: Yes, there was a lot more to it. The false system at Babel was destroyed and the languages confused so that man would not progress at a rate that was so fast as to endanger the existence of the planet too early within the time frame given to Satan.

They would become as elohim but without the Holy Spirit and thus destroy this planet and hence, the Plan of God. The system you see unfolding now might have happened two or more thousand years ago. The planet would not exist now.

Abraham

Did Hagar or Ishmael receive any blessings for their relationship to Abram?

A: Indeed, they did receive a blessing. Christ himself said, at the direction of God, He would bless Ishmael and make a mighty nation from him (Gen. 21:17-18).

Look at the various papers that deal with Abraham: Why was Abraham called “the Friend of God” (No. 35); The Angel and Abraham’s Sacrifice (No. 71); Abraham and Sodom (No. 91) and also look at Genesis 22, Judaism, Islam and the Sacrifice of Isaac (No. 244).

The Law

Is there a reason why the commandments were given on two tables of stone?

A: Yes, there is a reason. The two tablets were small and they were carried by Moses. They appear to have been written on both sides. The tablets appear to be duplicates as a double witness. The tablets of the law were placed within the Ark of the Covenant (See the papers The Ark of the Covenant (No. 196) and Distinction in the Law (No. 96).)

The Law is explained in the series The Law of God (No. L1). The concept of being written on stone was one of God, who is the rock (Ps. 17:31) from which we, and Christ, are all cut (Isa 51:1) and who engraves his Law in our hearts through his power. He becomes all in all.

In Deuteronomy 10 it talks about the covenant (Ex. 34:28) being the Ten Commandments that were written on the 2 tablets. In verse 5 it says he put the tablets IN THE ARK. Is this the LAW that is the New Covenant that is written in the minds and hearts of the elect? Is there more significance to this that you could expound on?

A: Yes, that is the significance both of the Ark and of the tablets being placed inside it. The Law of God was to be placed in the hearts and minds of the elect. This aspect is examined in the papers: Distinction in the Law (No. 96); The Ark of the Covenant (No. 196); The Oracles of God (No. 184) and The Law of God (No. L1).

Are the commandments in two lots of 4 and 6 or 5 and 5?

A: Assuming you refer to the divisions based on the two great Commandments of the Law; the First Great Commandment is “You shall love the Lord your God with all your mind and with all your heart and with all your strength.” The second is like unto it. “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” The Commandments fall into two natural divisions of the first four dealing with the love of God and the last six dealing with the love of man. Thus the Fourth Commandment, dealing with the Sabbath day, covers the aspects of the Law and the testimony concerning God’s Calendar and His worship and is the technical end of the First Great Commandment proper.

The Fifth Commandment, concerning the love of father and mother, is the first with a promise. It relates to life on this earth and the formation of the family, which is the building block on which God has chosen to build society. This extends into the heavenly family of the Church and the sons of God. Thus, this Commandment forms a link between the first four and the last six so that, in a sense, both answers are correct.

The Law is divided into two great commandments the first four and the last six linked by the fifth, which joins both the First and the Second Great Commandments. Look at the papers in the series on The Law of God (No. L1) and the associated reference papers as well.

Could you please define and interpret the first commandment?

A: It is written (Ex. 20:2-3):

“I am the Lord thy God Which has brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the House of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

Roman Catholics join the second commandment to this commandment and split the tenth commandment into two, which is impossible, based on the text in Deuteronomy 5.

The words for “Lord thy God” here is not simply “Yahovah.” It is “Yahovah Elohim” meaning God in His extended and creative sense. If it were Yahovah, as Bullinger says, it might be argued that the Law was limited to Israel, which it is not.

The first two Commandments are in the first person. The remainder are in the third person. Deuteronomy has the same structure for the first two Commandments. The section in Deuteronomy is argued to be a repeat and definite explanation by Moses of the original ten, which were in Exodus (cf. Soncino Commentary, Chumash p. 458).

“Thou shalt have no other elohim before me” means that no other elohim is to be placed before, or worshipped as, or in place of the One True God, who in the singular is “Eloah” the God of the Temple who placed His name at Jerusalem. See the text in Ezra 4:24-7:26 for the use of Eloah in relation to the Temple and the Law. It is the Law of Eloah.

Eloah has a son from Proverbs 30:4-5. Thus, the Son is not the One True God, Eloah. The First Commandment and the application of the Law and the Prophets have been outlined in the text Law and the First Commandment (No. 253) which was prepared for the Reading of the Law in the Sabbath Year of 1998.

Knowledge of the One True God, and Jesus Christ whom He sent, is eternal life (John 17:3). Explanation of the names of God and of the position of Jesus Christ are contained in the papers The Names of God (No. 116); God Revealed Chapter 1 – Ancient Monotheism (No. G1) and The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243).

Exodus 16 (before the 10 commandments were given) vs. 23 “…then he said to them, This is what the Lord meant: Tomorrow is a Sabbath Rest (how did they know it was the Sabbath since it wasn’t given at Sinai? It must have been through oral transmission from Adam to Moses) a Holy Sabbath to the Lord.” Vs. 28 “Then the Lord said to Moses ‘How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my instruction? Vs. 29 “The Lord has (past tense) given you the Sabbath…”. When did God give them the Sabbath?

A: The law was given to Adam at the creation. Not only was the Sabbath established then but also the sacrifices and the Calendar were established. Abel’s sacrifice was more acceptable to God than Cain’s because it was a blood sacrifice and he was more righteous.

The SDA doctrine of preflood vegetarianism is quite wrong, as is the notion that the law was not given until Sinai. Look at the paper Vegetarianism and the Bible (No. 183) and also Rachel and the Law (No. 281). The Passover also preceded Sinai and the New Moons, and the sequence of the Calendar was set in place from the first week of the creation. Look also at the paper God’s Calendar (No. 156). Look also at the papers The Doctrine of Original Sin Part I The Garden of Eden (No. 246) and Doctrine of Original Sin Part 2 The Generations of Adam (No. 248). The preflood system was destroyed because it broke the laws of God. See the paper The Nephilim (No. 154).

The commandments were in place and known when Abraham went into Egypt. See the paper Abraham and Sodom (No. 91). Look also at the paper The Doctrine of Balaam and Balaam’s Prophecy (No. 204). Abraham tithed to Melchisedek over four hundred years before Sinai. See the paper Melchisedek (No. 128).

The Fourth Commandment covers a system of God’s order and the system will be enforced when Christ returns. Look at the paper Law and the Fourth Commandment (No. 256). The Sabbaths will be kept with the New Moons (Isa. 66:23). The feasts will be kept and the nations will send their representatives to Jerusalem each year, or they will get no rain in due season and the plagues of Egypt will be brought down on them. This is Scripture and Scripture cannot be broken.

Reading the Law

We are seeing instruction at Deuteronomy 31:9-12 to read the Law every Sabbath year at the Feast of Tabernacles. On which day at the Feast is this to be done? The idea that the law is to be read on one day is a Jewish idea and they do it on the Last Great Day.

A: The Law was read over the entire feast in the seventh year. To read the Law and the testimony correctly, utilising the Law and the Prophets and explaining it correctly as Ezra and Nehemiah did at Jerusalem, takes the entire feast of Tabernacles.

That is why God demands it be done every seventh year, and that it is set aside for the purposes of the reading so that Israel does not forget the Laws of God. Look at the papers Reading the Law with Ezra and Nehemiah (No. 250) and the Law series listed under The Law of God (No. L1) which were read at the commanded Reading of the Law in 1998.

Society

How does the uncleanness until sundown relate to us today as being sanctified? Is there a time now, or a time in the future that He does not want us to sleep with our wives? If so, when and why would this be do you think?

A: The whole process of sanctification for the Seventh of the First month and the Tenth of the Seventh month logically requires fasting from all aspects, including our partners.

The separation from our partners in total will come at the Advent. The High Priests always regarded themselves as being separate when they went into the Temple on the sacred days. They disqualified themselves when ritually unclean. We have to prepare ourselves to enter into a relationship with Christ.

Could you please explain these passages about the days and what is meant about not coming near your wives? I believe this has to do with the second coming of Jesus, but I am not really sure.

The process involves the sanctification of the elect. Under the law a man was ritually unclean if he had an issue of semen until sundown and the aim here was to ensure the host of Israel was sanctified in the day that the Lord was to come to them.

The process of the sanctification of Israel is examined and explained in the papers The Sanctification of the Temple of God (No. 241) and The Sanctification of the Simple and the Erroneous (No. 291). See also Ezekiel 45:18-20.

The entire process of the calendar and the sanctification that takes place in the structure of the plan of God as explained in the calendar and its Sabbaths new Moons and Holy Days all point to Messiah and the restoration of the planet. Look at the papers God’s Calendar (No. 156) and Law and the Fourth Commandment (No. 256).

We are the Temple of God and the Law of God will live in our hearts. We will go from the church to the nations to the world as the Temple of God and will become the City of God. Look at the papers The Oracles of God (No. 184); Measuring the Temple (No. 137) and The City of God (No. 180).

Why was a woman considered unclean for forty days after giving birth to a male child, and eighty days after giving birth to a female child?

A: There are some very difficult issues arising from the laws of female purification (cf. Purification and Circumcision (No. 251)). Science has studied food in many of its aspects, especially its physiology and nutritional value. As a result, we can now understand why certain foods are “clean” and others are not and have been forbidden to us (see the paper The Food Laws (No. 15)). However, for generations we have been following those food laws simply because God told us to. We understand that God gave us His laws in order for us to be able to lead healthy, well balanced, well ordered lives. The laws relating to women have not been studied in the same way; therefore, we must do as we have always done. Rely on the fact that if God has said so, then it is in our best interests to do so. These matters are also qualified in and by their spiritual aspects, as they relate to Messiah.

The term “unclean woman” might bother many people. It seems to be offensive, but it is not. It is simply a time of separation because the woman requires rest and understanding. The term “unclean” is not the equivalent of “sinner.” The purification is scientifically a time of cleansing for seven days. It is a natural and physical act, where the lining of the womb, in not receiving a fertile ovum for the process of impregnation, is rejected during menstruation. Normally, it is a period of seven days in every 28. This process of cleaning permits the continuation of human kind for which this law, in the same manner as all the others, is a blessing from God (Gen. 1:28). The fulfilling of the laws are tied to the daily life of the human being. The Law of God is in force in its totality both physically and spiritually (2Cor. 7:1).

In the text in Leviticus 12:4 we see the term “to touch not what is holy.” In these terms we see the parallel symbolism that goes to setting apart the elect in purification. This distinction was made until Christ. The theory was that the woman in her condition would defile that which was holy. However, that which was holy would also sanctify that which was in a state of purification. For this reason, the woman who was in a state of discharge and in need of cure was made clean by touching Christ’s garment. This did not make Christ unclean but rather the Holy Spirit flowed from Him to her making her clean.

Matthew 9:20-22 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: ²¹For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. ²² But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. (KJV)

This action pointed towards two things. One was that Christ was the new High Priest whose hem was set apart from Exodus 28:33-34; 39:25-26 and whose headband was also Holiness to the Lord (Ex. 28:36; 39:30). The second lesson was that by faith through the Holy Spirit cleanliness and purification are extended to the sick and the infirm. This is repeated again in Matthew, that we might see the importance of the presence of Christ to the impact of the Law and the prophets and the restoration of the sick and the infirm and the unclean.

Thus, from the Law, that which was unholy could not touch that which was holy. This was asked of the priests and the answer was given. Yet from God’s own law and prophecy the same situation pointed towards a time when God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh and make it Holy within His law and He would write it on their hearts. This action was accomplished through Messiah.

Thus all flesh was made holy in the Spirit and was cleansed through Messiah in the Holy Spirit. The Purification legislation pointed towards the cleansing of the human mother as Israel the Church, and Bride of Christ, and mother of the new nation. From this position we see that the mother is cleansed and may partake of the Lord’s Supper and Passover as one of the elect, being cleansed in the Holy Spirit.

If Christians are supposed to keep the Old Testament food laws, what about other Old Testament laws such as not wearing garments mingled of wool and linen? What about the quarantine legislation, and when a woman has an issue of blood? Are Christians to observe these also?

A: Yes, they are supposed to keep those laws. Some matters are covered in the paper Purification and Circumcision (No. 251). Quarantine legislation is very important and badly neglected. TB was eradicated in Australia by concerted effort forty years ago and now, through failure to observe strict quarantine, it is back and some of it is resistant.

When one is asked to testify in a court of law, one is asked to “swear.” But I believe scripture indicates not to swear.

Do you have any suggestions of how to handle the situation?

A: Israel swore oaths before God. The Law says thou “shalt not swear by my name falsely, nor profane the name of thy God. I am the Lord” (Lev. 19:12). There are many references to Israel swearing to truth. David swore an oath to Jonathan (1Sam. 20:12). Israel was made to swear (Ezra 10:5). Isaiah 65:16 prophecies that the earth shall swear by the God of truth and Scripture cannot be broken.

The idea of not swearing in Christianity comes from Matthew 5:34-36 when Christ said: “Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is His footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.”

This was interpreted as meaning you shall not swear an oath at all. For that reason, affirmations were permitted in a court of law. The text by Christ is “let your yes be yes and your no be no.” The sense of this was that pagans were swearing by their mother’s graves, and by all sorts of other strange ideas. The oath is: “Do you swear by almighty God to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” This is in accord with the sentiment of the text in Isaiah. The word “swear” has been changed to “affirm” and the term “Almighty God” has been removed. Pressure for the change came from Atheists and Pagans, but it also assisted the truly devout to avoid the possibility that they were in contravention of the dictum of Christ here in Matthew 5:34-37. Thus, he produced a hedge around the sentiment of swearing using the texts in Exodus 20:7; Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 23:21. Thus, we can deduce that Judah had introduced practices regarding swearing under the Law which contravened the Law and the Spirit of God. Look at the papers Law and the Ninth Commandment (No. 262); Law and the Third Commandment (No. 255) and Swearing By God (No. 32)).

What is your view on what the punishment should be for violence on the innocent?

A: The implementation of punishment is contained in the papers on The Law of God (No. L1). Look at the papers: Law and the Sixth Commandment (No. 259); Law and the Seventh Commandment (No. 260); Law and the Eighth Commandment (No. 261) and Law and the Ninth Commandment (No. 262).

In the second resurrection, violence to the innocent is made good by God. All are resurrected and all are retrained in the Holy Spirit. Look at the logic of the release of Satan. At the end of the Millennium, God orders the release of Satan in order to deal with the planet. He also has allowed him to remain in power on this planet for six thousand years when he has the power to restrain him, and does so restrain him for the Millennium.

In this sense God is complicit in the evils of this world and responsible for allowing the evils to take place. Do we then judge God: By no means. This whole creation is a teaching exercise and at the end of it we will lose no one. We will keep the laws of God and love one another because it is clear to us all what will happen when we do not do so. The purpose of all punishment is the rehabilitation and protection of all people concerned.

What is your position on the death penalty? Is it biblical? If so, how should it be accomplished?

A: Yes, every one of the Ten Commandments is backed by the death penalty. The application of the death penalty is covered in the paper Law and the Sixth Commandment (No. 259) and Law and the Fifth Commandment (No. 258).

Leviticus 19:28 and Deuteronomy 14:2 teaches a Bible student what in relation to tattoos?

A: Tattooing and marking or carapacing is an ancient practice that is forbidden under the laws of God. The origins of the system are found in most ancient societies. The word (tat) actually comes from Polynesia and means, “to strike repeatedly.” The history and ancient times in both Egypt and Mesopotamia are in the paper Tattooing (No. 5). The earliest tattoos in ancient Egypt had the form of a fly (associated perhaps or seemingly with the god of Ekron) and also a form of cross like a swastika.

I appreciate the Biblical direction to “Owe no man.” I have been reading how the 7th year of a 7-year cycle should work. It would appear to me that there is provision to “owe” others at least for a time, otherwise why would debt that lingered past the 6th year need to be forgiven in the 7th year? In this day and age there seems no way to purchase land or houses within 6 years. How can we live in current economic conditions and obey this law?

A: The Bible is quite clear that it is improper to charge interest on any loan. Our world system makes slaves of our children and our poor. No debt can be carried on past the Sabbath year. We should owe no man anything. We should pay our debts. This is very difficult in modern society. Our people have virtually been sold into slavery by the system we have. We are all trying to get out of debt and simplify our lifestyles. We all find this very hard, and we have made it harder for our children than it was for us. The Jews get around this by saying that only applies to the Jews but they are only one of twelve tribes. Our houses are over priced. Our people are destroyed for lack of knowledge and those who obey God’s Laws make themselves prey. Look at the papers on The Law of God (No. L1), and especially Law and the Eighth Commandment (No. 261).

Is it okay to gamble? Surely it is simply spending hard-earned money to make more?

A: The Law works on productive increase. The making of money off the losses of another is contrary to the spirit of the Law of God. The Roman Catholic Church condones and in fact uses gambling. That is almost unique in the English speaking system. Gambling in America and Australia has been allowed to increase and the poker machine system has intruded virtually everywhere, such that the results are catastrophic. Gambling can become compulsive addictive behaviour for some as is the case with alcoholics and other drugs users. Compulsive gamblers lie, cheat and even steal to maintain and support their habit. At this point it destroys relationships, marriages and families. Many resort to suicide when things are out of control.

Problem gamblers have a specific mind-set in which the brain operates differently to that of other people. The prospect of gain makes the brain cross transfer impulses and produces larger than normal activity. They can’t help what they do. The pleasure is in the rush of actually risking all and losing. It is only the loss that is the true and full release. The social costs of gambling are horrendous and it will be stamped out in a just society

Food Laws

We are careful to obey Gods food laws. A friend of ours does not eat mushrooms because they have spores to reproduce and he does not consider a spore to be a seed. Have I been wrong in eating mushrooms?

A: No, Mushrooms can be eaten. This idea came from the concept that as we were given seeds to eat and clean animals and spore driven items were not specifically mentioned then anything that grows from spores is unclean in that they are not mentioned among the foods to be eaten or not eaten.

If spore borne items were not to be eaten as unclean then we would be in real trouble. We could not eat Leavened Bread at all as yeast is a spore product. The offerings at Pentecost would be a bizarre contradiction as the two loaves at Pentecost are leavened. God would be ordering us to contradict his own laws.

Beer is leavened by yeast. Wine is yeast fermented. Wild spores are in the air and we eat them all the time. All food has been exposed to some spore activity. Yet God tells us that only for seven days are we not to eat leaven. This is a case of excess zeal not according to knowledge. The people who said this no doubt are trying to be faithful to what they know but have picked up this error from some of the more way out groups keeping the food laws.

One of the academics in the Oxford/Cambridge system published a book a few years ago now about Christ and the mushroom cult. That sort of reasoning is the result of an overactive imagination. The Church of God should be able to see through this error.

We know the food laws are in effect, but if someone needs supplements, i.e. calcium, should it be from a clean animal or plant-based or because it is not being consumed for food, it does not matter?

A: This is an interesting point. Most food supplements that are required are necessitated by vegetarianism, which is a perversion of Bible laws. If the food laws are obeyed and clean animals are consumed, the necessity for food supplements is considerably reduced. If quality vegetables are consumed in proportion, then the likelihood is reduced. If vitamins were needed, then the manufacturing process would not normally involve unclean animals. In the case of insulin, there are types available from clean animals. The Food laws protect the planet and its environment as well. Look at the papers The Food Laws (No. 15); Vegetarianism and the Bible (No. 183); Wine in the Bible (No. 188) and Balance (No. 209).

Some people I know refuse to eat pork and certain fish. Are they just being fanatical or could there be a valid reason for this in this century with refrigeration available?

A: There is a valid reason for it. The food laws were given in the Bible. God does nothing without good reason. The food laws were dismissed by anthropologists such as Mary Douglas on taboo grounds. Drs. Nanji and French had demonstrated in 1986 that pork was a cause of cirrhosis of the liver. There are a host of other scientific reasons that are covered in the paper The Food Laws (No. 15).

There are sound reasons for not eating all the unclean varieties prohibited in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 and the handling legislation. The Foodlaws were not eliminated in the New Testament and Acts 10 concerns the conversion of the Gentiles, and not Peter eating unclean food. Look also at the papers Balance (No. 209); Vegetarianism and the Bible (No. 183) and Wine in the Bible (No. 188).

Do biblical food laws prohibit eating meat? Or just certain meats like pork?

A: The food laws prohibit the eating of certain types of meat such as pork. All animals that chew the cud and have cloven hooves are clean to eat. Thus, one can eat a giraffe but not a pig. The pig, among other things, has been demonstrated to cause cirrhosis of the liver due to a chemical in the soft tissue of its flesh that cannot be removed. There are sound scientific reasons for all the food laws.

Fish that can be eaten must have fins and scales. The reason for this is that fish without scales lack the capacity to isolate heavy metals and toxins making them unavailable for human consumption. For example, one can eat tuna but not shark. The reason is that a tuna has scales and that seems to be indicative of a process whereby the mercury levels, while similar to a shark, are bound up with selenium to make it unavailable for human digestion. The selenium is again bound up with arsenates, which are too small to effect human digestion. Prawns and similar seafood have heavy metals in distributed forms throughout their bodies. Oysters cause various entero-viruses and are reinfective agents. Look at the paper The Food Laws (No. 15).

Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 seem to indicate we are to eat certain types of food and avoid other types of food. Do these food laws tie to the ten commandments?

A: All of the law and the prophets are subtended from the Two Great Commandments. These are:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength.
You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

The Ten Commandments are directly under these. The first four Commandments hang from the First Great and the last six hang from the Second Great Commandment. The Fifth Commandment ties the two together. The responsibility to “make alive” covers a series of aspects both of the environment and of the individual. The well being of the planet depends in part on the food laws. These are explained at the paper The Food Laws (No. 15).

The relationship to the Law is found in the Law series Law of God (No. L1) and particularly Law and the Fifth Commandment (No. 258) and Law and the Sixth Commandment (No. 259).

All of the Laws of God tie into the Ten Commandments and the prophets explain them all. The New Testament is simply commentary on them. That is why it is so absurd to suggest that Messiah would have eliminated them in any way. That is why we are commanded to read the Law every Sabbath year so that we understand how the Law works and interacts. All of the Law proceeds from the nature of God and reflects that nature.

Tithes and Offerings

I once belonged to a church, which had special offerings that were taken up on the Feast day, seven times during the year. I’ve also read in Deuteronomy 16 and in Exodus 23 that there are three feasts to attend and that offerings were made here. Wouldn’t God be more pleased with seven annual offerings than with only three?

A: If God had wanted seven offerings in a year, He would have said seven and not three times a year. If He had wanted a weekly offering, He would have said that. Instead, He instituted the tithe system and three offerings a year at the three feast seasons. The issue of tithing and offerings is examined in the papers Tithing (No. 161) and Law and the Fourth Commandment (No. 256).

I was studying your paper Tithing (No. 161), when I saw that offerings are to be 3 times a year not 7. I do agree. You also mentioned Atonement is strictly forbidden as an offering. Could you please tell me where I could find the Atonement offering forbidden in these scriptures?

A: The law regarding the Atonement tax is at Exodus 30:15: “The rich shall not give more the poor shall not give less than half a shekel when they give and offering unto the Lord to make an atonement for your souls.” Originally it was a tax without exception in Israel. Now it is a tax without distinction paid for us by Christ, and salvation is open to the Gentiles and they enter Israel by grace and adoption as sons of God.

This concept is developed in Acts 10:34 and Romans 3:22,23; 10:12. The offering is a heave offering. Bullinger also understands this point in his notes to the Companion Bible at Exodus 30:15. When an offering is taken up on Atonement, it is a direct violation of the Law and a rejection of the all-embracing power of the redemption of Christ and the extension of Salvation to the Gentiles.

My pastor says that if a believer does not tithe he is stealing from God and therefore is a thief, and that thieves do not go to heaven. Is he scripturally correct?

A: Your pastor is referring to the text in Malachi 3:7-12. If you do not tithe, you rob God. This is covered in the paper Tithing (No. 161). It is a sign of the return of the individual to God. However, it is only one sign and your pastor cannot have it both ways. The Law of God has to be kept and so do the commandments regarding the festivals. The Tithes and Offerings are tied up with the Feasts of the Lord. Look at the paper Law and the Fourth Commandment (No. 256). It is all too common for ministers to appeal to the law regarding tithing, and yet ignore it on all the other important aspects. You may find it interesting to look at the series on The Law of God (No. L1).

No one goes to heaven. It was the test of a true Christian in the early church. If anyone said that they were a Christian and that when they died they went to heaven, they were not to be believed. That was the test of a Christian and a Gnostic. Anyone who said that when they died they went to heaven, showed by that statement they were a Gnostic and not a Christian (see Justin Martyr, Second Apology). This is covered in the papers The Soul (No. 92) and The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143).

ISRAEL

Weren’t there 12 judges in Israel? Does this have anything to do with there being twelve tribes?

A: The twelve judges of Israel have a relationship to the twelve tribes and were drawn from them. The apostles also head the twelve tribes and the 144,000 are also allocated to them. The twelve apostles and the twelve judges all represent the twenty-four elders of the inner council, and the twenty-four high priests of the division of the Temple also have this symbolism. Look at the papers The City of God (No. 180) and Samson and the Judges (No. 73).

Do you know how many kings there were in Israel from Saul until the deportation by the Assyrians?

A: There is a list of the kings in the Companion Bible at Appendix 50 but the chronology is completely erroneous. The Kings of the combined kingdom of Israel and Judah were Saul, David and Solomon.

Jeroboam reigned over Israel from the Division, and Rehoboam reigned over Judah. From then on the kings of Israel were: Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri (7days), Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, Zechariah, Shallum (1 month), Menahem, Pekahiah s. of Menahem, Pekah s. of Remaliah, and Hoshea. In 722 BCE, the fall of Samaria to the Assyrians occurred and Israel was taken into captivity. Total: 22 kings of Israel.

This question involves one of the tribes of Israel. The tribes are numbered as thirteen when the two half-tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh are counted separately but when they are counted as one single tribe they are numbered as twelve. In Genesis 49 Ephraim and Manasseh are counted as one tribe. In Ezekiel 48 the two half-tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh are treated as two separate tribes, making the number of the tribes thirteen. Regardless of how one counts the tribes, the fact is Dan has been left out here. Why has Dan been left out of the 144,000?

A: The birthright is with Joseph because Reuben lost it through fornication with one of the wives. Levi was the priesthood and so became the thirteenth tribe, but not taking part in the physical blessings of Israel directly but through the tithe, which was given to it as the priesthood. Joseph, as the birthright holder, had a double portion under the law. This went to Ephraim firstly and Manasseh secondly. Look at the papers Law and the Fifth Commandment (No. 258) and The Law of God (No. L1) and the Law series generally.

In Numbers 10 we see the battle order of the tribes of Israel. These are East: Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; South: Reuben, Simeon, and Gad; West: Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin; North: Dan, Asher, and Napthali. These differ from Ezekiel 48, which is a prophetic or millennial system. In that system, Joseph goes back to one allocation and Dan resumes their order. Reuben goes to the North with Judah as firstborn, and this is now the reverse of the order of battle of the original tribes. There is also an allocation of the lands according to the tribes as well, which is not being examined here. The lands of Israel will stretch to the Euphrates.

The text in Revelation 7 refers to the priesthood for the inner priests of Christ comprising the 144,000. These were drawn out as living sacrifices comprising a council of 72 per year for the forty Jubilees of the church in the wilderness. 72 x 2000 equals 144,000. This is explained in the paper The Harvests of God, the New Moon Sacrifices, and the 144,000 (No. 120). Levi’s major function is as a priest tribe therefore they resume their normal duties and take a share in the priesthood of the 144,000.

To achieve this Dan who has another major birthright promise to take up yields part of its inheritance as does Ephraim and they share in the 12,000 of Joseph who is always a combined tribe. Manasseh takes 12,000 in its own right, which is very interesting. Dan then takes its birthright and becomes judge in Israel as promised in Genesis 49:16. This is the reason for the verse: “I have waited for thy salvation O Lord.” Only on the return does Dan take up his inheritance as Judge in Israel. This is Scripture and cannot be broken.

Dan then takes its position at the East gate in Ezekiel’s system with Joseph and Benjamin, the children of Rachel. This is the place of entry of the Messiah and hence the seat of Judgment. There is another point also in the birthright promises that has not been taken up as yet, and that is the calling of the people to Jerusalem. That birthright is taken up by Issachar and Zebulun (Deut. 33:18-19). Look at the paper Calling the Peoples to Jerusalem (No. 238). None of these three tribes has exercised these birthright promises as yet and Scripture cannot be broken. God’s word does not come back void or empty.

Does God give any indication as to the criterion for the order of the tribes for battle (as referenced in your answer citing Numbers 10) and for the order of the tribes at the gates (cited in Ezekiel 48)? Levi is not in the battle order (with Ephraim and Manasseh counted as sons of Israel) but Levi is in the gate order (with Ephraim and Manasseh represented by Joseph)?

A: Levi is in the battle order in Numbers 10 carrying the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple, but is broken up for these purposes. Look at the paper The Ark of the Covenant (No. 196). They carried the physical structure and thus, were an order of priests set apart for that purpose.

We are the Temple of God now and we are the Oracles of God. We are the Ark of the Covenant and that is why Jeremiah was told to hide it where he did. If they found it again where it is hidden, we would have to send a team to re-bury it. There is a new order of priests after the order of Melchisedek, and which comprises Levi who paid tithes in the loins of Abraham to Melchisedek and is thus a lesser priesthood. Hence, Levi is one of the priesthood for the millennial system and thus appears in the gate order as the apostles of the twelve tribes are over each one. Look also at the papers Melchisedek (No. 128) and The Oracles of God (No. 184). This gate order in Ezekiel tells you the gate order of the City of God. Thus, we can also be given an indication of the foundations of the apostles over the tribes from their placement and dispersion. This is another matter. Look at the paper The City of God (No. 180).

It is also our view that the order of the tribes in the Gates is indicative of the order of March. As you are aware, Messiah enters always via the east gate and that is why it is bricked up at the moment in the wall at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The witnesses will probably shatter that gate when they arrive, in preparation for or at the arrival of Messiah, when the Mount of Olives cleaves and the First Resurrection occurs. Look at the paper The Witnesses (including the Two Witnesses) (No. 135). As Dan is judge, it is also in the East gate with the birthright tribes, but Dan leads the sons of Rachel, the birthright tribe of Joseph (i.e. Ephraim, Manasseh and the son of the promise, Benjamin). Dan thus becomes first and not last. Judah is the rearguard, instead of Dan, as Messiah is our rearward or rearguard protection. This will take place during the Millennium also. It is written: Manasseh shall feed off Ephraim then Ephraim shall feed off Manasseh (which is where we are now) and then both shall feed off Judah. Again, Scripture cannot be broken. Look also at the paper Rachel and the Law (No. 281). This may also give an indication of the birthright shift from west to east.

Three tribes were also given an inheritance over Jordan, these were half Manasseh, Reuben and Gad and some Ephraim and Dan also joined them in Gilead. Dan split into two as well in the occupation. Israel and Assyria will come out of Europe in the north, hand in hand, to reoccupy the Middle East also. We moved into Europe in the second century CE when the Parthian Empire fell and joined the rest of the Israelite-Hittite-Phoenician alliance in Britain and West Europe in the fourth century. The Bar Kochba rebels of Judah had gone on to America after the failure of the revolt in the second century. Look at the paper The Unitarian/Trinitarian Wars (No. 268).

Allen’s work of Judah’s Sceptre and Joseph’s Birthright misidentified the tribal movements and trivialised the issue. The US and BC in Prophecy, published by the Worldwide Church of God, merely reinforced the historical errors by plagiarising Allen’s work. The movement from Europe will be after the wars of the Fifth and Sixth trumpets. The last wars of the kings of the North and South are about to begin. Look also at The Seven Seals (No. 140) and The Seven Trumpets (No. 141). The movement will commence with the flooding of the Netherlands and the low countries in the not too distant future (See the paper Global Warming and Bible Prophecy (No. 218).

This is in reference to the allocation of the 24 elders. I realise there are 4 cherubim around God’s throne. I thought this would make 4 quadrants or areas of responsibility; therefore I would divide 24 by 4 and get 6 elders given responsibility under each cherub. The division might continue with the 12 judges and 12 apostles each also being allocated responsibility under a cherub, with 3 judges and 3 apostles to each quadrant. Would this be correct?

A: Yes, your idea is correct. Israel was divided as two divisions to a tribe. There were three tribes to a quadrant. The zodiac is a corruption of the divisions of the government which the tribes represent.

The East, and first, quadrant under the Lion which is of Judah is: Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. They are first in the order of march. Second is the South, or man system, of Reuben Simeon and Gad. Third is the Western, or Bull-headed system, which is Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin. Fourth, or last, is the Northern or Eagle system, which is also represented by a Scorpion and balances in judgment. These tribes are Dan, Asher and Napthali.

These are the rearguard of Israel, hence the sting in the tail and also the symbol of the serpents path. The Tabernacles and the priesthood move between the First and Second Quadrants. The position of the Ark is examined in the paper The Ark of the Covenant (No. 196). Look also at the papers The Meaning of Ezekiel’s Vision (No. 108) and The Government of God (No. 174). This structure will become the City of God. Look at the paper The City of God (No. 180).

Moses

In this verse (Ex. 32:19) it states that Moses broke the 2 tablets. Then he had to go back up to get them written again. Does this have any significant meaning? Is there more to this than Moses just getting mad?

A: Yes, this has great significance. The symbolism was that Israel would break the law and be unable to keep it in a state of sin, being divorced from God. The second time represented the new Moses who was to come as Jesus Christ, who would ascend to the Mountain of God and return with the Holy Spirit, which would lock the law of God in all our hearts.

That is why, when Christ ascended to the throne of God on the Wave Sheaf at 9 a.m. following his resurrection, he returned that day and breathed the Holy Spirit on the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn. 20:22).

Would you please explain if Moses’ wife and 2 children went with Moses when he returned to Egypt to lead God’s people to freedom? Exodus 4:20 seems to indicate they were along on part of the trip; yet, Exodus 18:1-5 indicates that Jethro brought Moses’ wife and children.

A: Zipporah went down to Egypt with Moses and the two boys as we see in Exodus 4. She appears to have tried to prevent the circumcision of Eliezar and nearly had him killed because of that fact. She then did it herself to save his life and accused Moses because of it. The language in the texts is accusative. She was herself a descendent of Abraham, through the sons of Keturah, and should have known better.

Exodus 18:2 says that Moses sent her back. It was probably at this point in Ex. 4:26 that he sent her back to her father Jethro from the inn, thus she did not make it to Egypt. The meeting of Aaron and Moses in the next verse (Ex. 4:27) makes no mention of her or the boys. Nothing short of wholehearted spiritual strength would bring Israel out of this Exodus with their minds set on God.

In Exodus 14 it speaks of the hosts of Pharaoh. Who were these and do they have symbolic meaning?

A: The entire story of Moses and the Exodus is dealing with the nation, and also the fallen host that it worshipped and by which it was governed. The significance of this is covered in a paper on the Exodus called Moses and the Gods of Egypt (No. 105).

The entire structure of the Bible is allegory and parables dealing with the structure of the Plan of Salvation. You will also enjoy the paper Pentecost at Sinai (No. 115), which takes the Exodus on to Sinai and the giving of the Law. The next paper in that aspect is The Golden Calf (No. 222). Thus, we have both a physical host and spiritual host, which God dealt with through Christ. Look also at the paper The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243).

I need some information on the Red Sea parting. I once saw something about a scientific reason for this. Any biblical reference will be of great importance for what I am looking for.

A: For a long time scientists and people in general have been trying to explain away the miracle of Israel and the Exodus in the crossing of the Red Sea. Some linguists try to make it read the Reed Sea and place it as a marsh in the area of the canal. The Israelites allegedly marched over the marsh of the reed sea and the Egyptian chariots sank. However, that is not what the Bible says happened.

There is another version which places Pi ha Hiroth on the Gulf of Aqaba. It is asserted that the gaps in the mountains either side allowed the deluge to wash down massive amounts of soil and that there is a bridge under the water, some few hundred feet down. Thus, the sea was piled up on the sides of the underwater bridge and the Israelites crossed into Midian near Jebel el Laws in Saudi Arabia. The name means, “The Mountain of the Law” in Arabic. There is a video purporting to have been made at this site. We have no evidence of its authenticity. When we can send a team there, we will look for the crossing.

Which day of the First month did Israel start the seven-day march around the walls of Jericho?

A: Israel, under Joshua, crossed into the Promised Land on the tenth day of the First month, and was set aside to the Lord in circumcision on that day. They abode four days and on the Fourteenth day of the First month, they killed the Passover and ate of the old corn of Canaan on the First Holy Day of Unleavened Bread (Josh. 5:11). This act enabled Rahab to be counted by the scarlet thread on her lintels, and salvation was again extended to the Gentiles as part of Israel.

Joshua 5:13 says that “it came to pass that when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted his eyes and there stood a man against him with a drawn sword.”

This is held to be between the 15th and 21st of the First month. We can assume that they kept the 15th as a holy day as commanded. We can make one of two deductions. The command of Christ as the Captain of the Host of God came to him when he was near Jericho. We might assume that the story is conjoint and that he spoke with Christ on the 14th day, and that the activities of the host took place from 15th Nisan and went for seven days. The Seventh Days were the Holy Days, and the walls went flat and the children of Israel entered on the last Holy Day of Unleavened Bread. This has merit in that the symbolism of the feast of Unleavened Bread is to remove sin, as malice and wickedness, from among us. The fall of Jericho is symbolised by this activity. The difficulty with this is that the major activity of the battle took place on a Holy Day.

We might conclude that this was done to show the victory of the host was enabled by the right conduct of Israel as the Church keeping the feasts of God. In this light, the case has merit. In the other view, we might say that the story is continuing; that the events took place over the Feast and the Last day’s activities took place on the day after the Holy Day. In which case, we overcome the objection but we lose the full power of the symbolism of the Battle and the purpose of the feast of Unleavened Bread.

The story is covered in the paper The Fall of Jericho (No. 142) but this aspect is not properly developed there. The seven days were most probably the seven days of Unleavened Bread from 15 to 21 Abib. The battle and victory took place at the end of the Feast. The end result is that the first day was 15 Abib, but it may possibly have been 16 Abib. It is discounted as being after the 21^st, as the full symbolism of Abib is lost.

Christ probably appeared to Joshua as the prototype on 14 Abib.

The fall of Jericho sounds a little like the book of Revelation with the marching around the city for seven days, and going around seven times on the seventh day. Is this coincidence, or is there a link here?

A: The actions of the Old Testament were a reflection of the New Testament and the Church. The entire story of the forty years in the wilderness and the taking of the Promised Land were a reflection of the forty Jubilees in the wilderness of the church.

Christ met Joshua, son of Nun of Ephraim, at the plain of Jericho as the captain of the Army of God, and he will come again to Israel to save them and place them again in their inheritance. The paper The Fall of Jericho (No. 142) deals with the similarities of which you speak.

Was there any significance to the red cords that Rahab was told to put in the window of her house so that the Israelite army would not kill anyone in her house?

A: The red cords were a symbol of the blood of the lamb that was on the doorposts and lintels of Israel in Egypt. Rahab had made a deliberate decision to affix herself to the body of Israel. She was the symbol of the salvation of the Gentiles. There was a mixed multitude that also joined Israel when they went out of Egypt.

The Lamb was her protection here, as it was in Egypt. Here he came as the captain of the Army of the Lord. He also gave the Law to Moses. The same thing was said to Joshua as was said to Moses: “Take off your shoes for the place where you are standing is Holy Ground.” Look at the paper The Fall of Jericho (No. 142).

Rahab was told to put red cords in the window of her house so that the Israelite army would not kill her or her family. Is this the same concept as the blood put on the doorposts of the Israelites’ houses on the first Passover?

A: Yes, but not many people make that connection. If Judah understood that, then they would all be converted. This is why we have to keep the Lord’s Supper on 14 Abib and the Night of Watchings on 15 Abib. That is why the first thing the pagans eliminated from the Church was the Passover, and substituted Easter using the bishops in Rome from Anicetus in 152 to Victor in 190-192. Once they did that, the Church in Rome was cut off from Christ and the rest was easy. Look at the paper The Quartodeciman Disputes (No. 277) and also the papers The Lord’s Supper (No. 103), The Passover (No. 98) and Sanctification of the Temple of God (No. 241).

Idols and Images

There seems to be a contradiction in the story of the golden idol or idols that Aaron either made or allowed to be made while Moses was upon the Mount. After the completion of the molten calf or calves, he said at Exodus 32:4 “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” Then Nehemiah 9:18 says they had made for themselves a molten calf, indicating a singular idol. Could you please clarify the difference?

A: Yes, this is another contradiction in the Bible, which serves to illustrate a lesson. Aaron is recorded as saying: “These be thy gods, O Israel” and Nehemiah says Aaron said, “This is thy god, O Israel.” Aaron is speaking of the earrings that were used in the construction, which were themselves amulets which were collected, and from which the calf was made.

Nehemiah’s reference is in the singular to illustrate it was only one idol made up from many individual amulets. The calf was allowed because it served as a teaching lesson and cleaned idolaters out of the priesthood. The nation was also cleaned of the amulets. The idolatrous purpose behind these protections for the orifices of the head is explained in the paper The Origin of the Wearing of Earrings and Jewellery in Ancient Times (No. 197). The story of the Calf and the theology behind it is found in the paper The Golden Calf (No. 222).

In reading further about the account of Israel making an idol while Moses was away, I am wondering why they chose to make a calf instead of say a lion or a bear or some other creature. Was there some particular reason why they chose to make a calf?

A: The calf was a symbol of the moon god, Sin. The horns, symbolised by the crescent moon, were also associated with the finger of Ashirat, which was another name for the deity associated with the feminine aspects, as Istar. The horns in Egypt were also associated with Hathor who was a symbol of fertility as a pregnant horned female. As the mother goddess she was associated with Isis and also Nut. Isis was the consort of Osiris and the mother lover of Horus, as was Easter (or Istar or Ashtoreth) of the Baal-Easter system. They are all part of the mystery sun cults.

The Trinity stems from this system as the Triune God and appears in Egypt as Osiris, Isis and Horus; in Palestine as Baal, Ashtoreth and the Morning star as the third element; and in Rome it was as Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva who was the virgin of the Immaculate Conception. These elements were transferred into Christianity in total by the fifth and sixth centuries. The term “Easter” comes from “Istar,” as does “Ostar” or “Ostara.”

The Minotaur of the Cretans is the same as the god Chemosh and Milcom (hence Malcolm) of the Moabites and Ammonites. The human sacrifices were offered to the god and sometimes cooked alive inside it. This is the origin of passing your children through the fire to Moloch. This Golden Calf was worshipped among the Irish Celts until the 5^th century and cannibalism is noted among the Scots in France during the same century. The details are found in the papers The Golden Calf (No. 222) and The Origins of Christmas and Easter (No. 235).

I heard that images were authorized based on John 3:14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” The reasoning was that Christ approved the making and exalting of the brazen serpent, by which the Israelites were healed in the desert. I know Christ would never support worshipping an image but what is the correct understanding of the text?

A: Moses used the brazen serpent as a symbol to Israel that they had power over the serpents and it acted as a psychological prop for people who were bitten (cf. Num. 21:9). No one prayed to it or worshipped it. Moses was dealing with the problem of getting an uneducated people to a point where God could work with them. It was also a prophecy that referred back to the position in Genesis where the heel of the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent and he would bruise his heel. This referred to the battle between Christ, as head of Israel and the Church, and Satan. It looked forward to the redemption of man by the elevated Christ who was to die for our sins. These papers are relevant: Moses and the God’s of Egypt (No. 105); Pentecost at Sinai (No. 115) and The Cross: Its Origin and Significance (No. 39).

Joshua

I am doing a report on the man Joshua in the Bible. I have several questions, but a lack of resources. I need a basic bibliography of Joshua’s life and how he did things. Can you help?

A: You can get an idea of the life of Joshua, and the symbolism of what he did and his environment, from looking at five papers for the background to the Exodus and the significance of what he did: The Passover (No. 98); Moses and the Gods of Egypt (No. 105); Pentecost at Sinai (No. 115); The Golden Calf (No. 222) and The Fall of Jericho (No. 142).

He was the son of Nun of the tribe of Ephraim. The concept of his name here means, “the Salvation of God (Yahoshua) comes through Endurance (Nun).” These were names of the Messiah. “Jesus” is a rendering in English of the Greek form of writing “Joshua.” It is correctly translated Joshua in English (see the paper Joshua, the Messiah, the Son of God (No. 134)).

He was a young man in Egypt who came out with Moses. He was one of the twelve spies and the only one of the twelve, along with Caleb of Judah, to enter the Promised Land. He rose to war leader of Israel and was chosen as Judge of Israel to enter the Promised Land. He took Jericho and then the cities mentioned in the Bible text in progression. He lived to 110 years of age. He was buried in his inheritance on the North side of the hill of Gaash on the border of his inheritance, which was the city of Timnath Serah in Mount Ephraim. The Septuagint adds to Joshua 24:30 that they buried the knives of stone with him that he used to circumcise Israel at Gilgal.

Look at the Book of Joshua for the details of the conquest and his life, as that is the most comprehensive account. You will find sketches of his life in the Bible dictionaries at your library. Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible is a good one and so too is ISBE.

I was reading the book of Joshua and saw a few things that were of interest. One was that when he was to take the people over the Jordan to the land God had promised them, he had a priest step into the Jordan and it was divided just like the red sea and the people went across on dry land. Does this prefigure baptism? Also they had to circumcise all the males again because they had wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Why weren’t they circumcised 8 days after birth? Joshua was instructed to take 12 rocks and make a memorial. Do the 12 rocks represent the 12 apostles?

A: Joshua is a very interesting text. The symbolism of entering the Promised Land was like that of Israel in the Exodus. The Passover brought them out of Egypt. This was a type of Christ, who was the Passover Lamb. They could have gone into the Promised Land when the twelve were sent to spy out the land but only two, Joshua and Caleb, were dedicated enough. These two symbolised Israel and Judah.

They then had to spend forty years in the wilderness before they were allowed to enter. That is the same as the Forty Jubilees of the Church in the wilderness. They were not circumcised so as to make a difference between the old generation, which refused to take up their inheritance, and the ones not part of the decision that were born in the wilderness. That represented the Church.

The Church has to be prepared once again for the coming of the Messiah, and so does Israel. The priest standing in the Jordan was symbolic of baptism. These people were brought through the Jordan and then circumcised into Israel and the Covenant. The circumcision here represents the rolling of sin from the Gentiles and from the nation of Israel. There were twelve stones left in the middle thread of the river. This is a boundary marker and the division of Israel and the world. There were twelve stones also taken as an altar at Gilgal.

There are thus two lots of twelve as twenty-four stones. These in two divisions represent the two aspects of the priesthood and the apostles and judges. The symbolism of what happened there and its relationship to the Plan of Salvation and the Return of Messiah is explained in the paper The Fall of Jericho (No. 142).

What is the meaning of the 2 spies hiding in the hill country for 3 days (Joshua 2:1-24)? There are many references to 3 days, i.e. sign of Jonah, etc.

A: It is another example of the two witnesses’ concept. We saw it with John and Messiah, and we will see it again when the witnesses get here. The two spies act as witnesses against the civilisation they are sent to spy out. In the last days, the two will stand for 1,260 days and then they will be killed by the world systems. They will lie in the streets for 3 ½ days and then be resurrected. Look at the papers The Fall of Jericho (No. 142) and The Witnesses (including the Two Witnesses) (No. 135).

Judges

What is the meaning of this passage (Jud 9:7-21) in reference to 4 different types of trees and other components of the text?

A: The trees of Judges 9:7-21 represent the trees of Israel’s power and the fourth false system of the Antichrist that is allowed to rule over it, and in the end destroys it.

Trees went forth, in the emphatic sense in the Hebrew, with great earnestness of purpose. (cf. Companion Bible n. to v. 8). The first is the olive, which represented Israel’s religious privileges and power (cf. Rom. 11 and Zechariah 4 re the olive trees). The Olive Trees are the power of witness of the nation of Israel. By the oil of its fatness, the nation honours God. In other words, the power of its witness was used to glorify God. But the spirit, who represented the trees, wanted it to participate in a false system of self-aggrandisement.

They asked the fig tree, which was the symbol of Israel’s national privileges (Mat. 21:19-20; Mk. 11:13, 20, 21; Lk. 13:6-9). This was its birthright promise. The fig held to its birthright under temptation of the host, who wanted to tempt it to defeat its birthright promise.

The vine was Israel’s spiritual privilege. For the vineyard of the Lord is the whole house of Israel (cf. Isaiah chap 5 and John chap 15). The word “leave” in v. 13 is “forsake” as in v. 11, and the concept is that of forsaking the power of the Holy Spirit through this temptation of the host and its false system. The wine here is “tirosh” or “new wine” which cheers both God and man. This is the wine of the Lord’s Supper and the Passover of the saints of God.

The bramble is the false tree of the Antichrist system and the false system of worship, which devours Israel through the fallen host and the Babylonian Mystery and sun cults. This is seen as devouring the false nation under the Antichrist system. This also can be seen from the concept of the story of Gideon. Look at Gideon’s Force and the Last Days (No. 22).

In Judges 19 we read about a situation where a Levite has a concubine that has been gone 4 months and he goes after her to reconcile after she has been unfaithful. It is quite similar to the time of Lot. The woman is raped to death by the sons of Belial then her man dismembers her and distributes the 12 body parts into all the coasts of Israel. Is there some symbolism here for us today and why did they not hesitate to turn the women over to these men as Lot was also willing to give his daughters?

A: Yes, there are some striking parallels in this story. The tempting conclusion is that the symbolism of the Levite is Christ, as elohim of Israel. The concubine from Bethlehem-Judah (a Jewess of Messiah’s clan) who was unfaithful was Israel that was taken in and repented as the church. Bethlehem-Judah was also of the Gentiles in Tamar and Ruth.

There are two periods of four whole months, which are two lots of 120 prophetic days. This was allowed to happen so that the message to the tribes would be understood. The tribe of Benjamin was the youngest and the “son of the promise.” Saul was also from Gibeah. The tribe was almost wiped out and then was allowed to be rebuilt by the stealing of the daughters of the tribes.

The Church was abused and murdered by the sons of Israel. Israel decided to rebuke Benjamin, but lost 40,000 men in two days. But Benjamin was destroyed except for 600 who formed a nucleus of the new tribe. The real message is that Israel paid a price for the treatment of the Church and the sons of the promise were also wiped out and then had to be built up at the expense of all.

Gideon

Would you please explain if Gideon had 70 sons (Jdg. 8:30) or 72 because Abimelech and Jotham were his sons and not accounted for in the dead of Jdg. 9:5? What is the significance of these numbers and systems?

A: Yes, the seventy represent the elders of Israel and the council of the Church. The Sanhedrin were always referred to as the seventy, but were always understood as seventy plus two. They represented the Council of God and were understood as having the two. This was depicted by the seventy with Eldad and Medad outside the tabernacle under Moses. Moses and Aaron also depicted the positions of Christ and God over the seventy.

This position was also seen in the Sanhedrin at the time of Christ, where the Seventy were supervised by the High Priest and his deputy (Annas and Caiaphas at the time of Christ). This later became the Nasi or prince and the High priest. Luke 10:1,17 shows that the seventy were ordained by Christ and sent out but the text in the Greek reads “hebdomekonta”[duo] or seventy[two]. Gideon represents the story of the church in the last days. Look at the paper Gideon’s Force and the Last Days (No. 22).

Samson

Was Samson’s power really derived from his hair, or did he just think so?

A: His hair was a symbol of the power of the Holy Spirit. Until the Messiah, the closest one could get to the elect was as a Nazirite under vow, and their hair was not cut.

Other than that, God conferred his power on individuals according to their selection as prophets or kings, such as David, or the elders of Israel, and the Judges. Now all men can approach God through Christ and be given the Holy Spirit. What they do with it determines their entry to the First Resurrection.

God also calls whom He chooses and predestines. These are the called and chosen of Romans 8:29-30 and they are thus justified and glorified. Many are called but few are chosen. Look at the paper Samson and the Judges (No. 73) for a fuller explanation of the operation of the Holy Spirit in the cycles and the explanation of some important parables.

Samson gave a riddle to thirty companions (Jdg. 14:12-14). Later Samson’s wife told them the answer, after which he got mad and went into town and slayed 30 men and took their festal garments and gave them to the companions. My question is this: Is there some kind of symbolism to this story?

A: The story points to the structure of the inner council of God and also to the salvation of the Gentiles. The council is comprised of seventy plus two. But the inner council is comprised of twenty-four divisional commanders or elders allotted to the four covering cherubim, in divisions and structures of two to a unit of twelve as were the high priests symbolising them; and then into quadrants of six in three units as were the tribes of Israel divided into quadrants of three making up twelve tribes (see Num. 10).

The Lamb and the Ancient of Days make up the inner throne council of the thirty. Satan was also removed from this council and will be replaced. The thirty garments are representative of the allocation of the Holy Spirit in power and the opportunity of salvation going to the Gentiles. If they had gone to God, He would have told them that out of the dead carcasses of the lion came the fruit or honey of the Holy Spirit.

The word “Essene” means “Bees” and this was the ancient religion of Assyria right up until the time of Christ, and was seen in the Celibate priests of the Baal-Easter system. Instead they ploughed with Samson’s heifer and he killed them and took the garments they already had. This was a warning to the demonic host as well. Look at the paper Samson and the Judges (No. 73); The Judgment of the Demons (No. 80); David and Goliath (No. 126) and The Pinata (No. 276).

Ruth

In the book of Ruth, Boaz represents Christ and Ruth the Church. Who does Ruth’s kinsman, who does not fulfil his obligation to marry her, represent? Is it Satan or someone or something else?

A: It is symbolic of Levi and Judah as a whole who failed the Gentiles because of their xenophobia, and also of Satan and the fallen Host who were given the responsibility for the Gentiles but failed to take them into the Kingdom of God as brides.

The elder kinsman is both Levi and Judah, and the Anointed Covering Cherub that was Lucifer. Look at the paper Ruth (No. 27) and also look at Lucifer: Light Bearer and Morning Star (No. 223) and Lost Sheep and The Prodigal Son (No. 199).

1Samuel

Would you comment on 1Samuel 6. Once again I noticed it contained the number 5. How did the Philistines have a concept of the guilt offering? Is there any significance regarding the cities and their religions? Also was the ark returned around Pentecost since they were harvesting wheat?

A: In this text in 1Samuel 6 we see the Ark receives its own divine title as “The Ark of Yahovah.” The Law was placed within the Ark, as the Law proceeded from Yahovah of Hosts to the entire Host through the Holy Spirit.

The Ark was captured after the Feasts of the Seventh month and was with the Philistines for seven months. The symbolism is this. Israel was to live by the law of God and protect the Law as Holy, Perfect, Righteous and Good Truth, which thing also is God.

The Ark was given to the Gentiles and they had it but did not live according to the laws of God and so the curses or the plagues of Egypt came upon them. In this way, they attracted the emerods and the mice, which were the plagues of Egypt. They got piles, in other words, and no doubt boils and other things, as well as the mice plague.

However, we know that the five cities of the Lords of the Philistines were all struck by the plagues and they were given until the Passover, and then the second Passover experienced during the Omer count and the fifty days to Pentecost, which is the Wheat Harvest.

So, the Philistines were given a chance at salvation. They were given the five months of grace, from the Last Great Day to the Preparation for the Sanctification of the Temple and the Passover, which they did not observe and so they were under judgment and the curses of Deuteronomy 28 came on them being under judgment. Look at the paper The Blessings and the Curses (No. 75).

They did not repent and take the First Passover, and then failing that the second Passover, as is provided by Law. Look at the paper Law and the Fourth Commandment (No. 256). This was to look forward to the opportunity, which was to be given to the Gentiles for the Law of God to come upon them as the Philistines were given charge of the Ark.

The five Lords had as witness against them the two plagues, which they symbolised in their votive offerings of emerods (haemorrhoids) and mice. These five cities of the Philistines were similar to the five nations that were later given the area of Samaria and Galilee. The five are a symbol of grace. By grace God conferred salvation on the Gentiles.

The Philistines failed to live by the laws of God and so incurred the penalties. They had literally to give up the Law of God and the Ark, symbolising the Holy Spirit that proceeded from God. They had to hand it back to those whose right it was. In this way, any Gentile who comes into the Church and does not live by the commandments of God is removed and cannot enter the Kingdom of God. If they do not speak according to the Law and the Testimony (Prophets), there is no light in them (Isa 8:20).

The Holy Spirit gave command to the priests of the Philistines as it commanded Balaam. Look at the paper The Doctrine of Balaam and Balaam’s Prophecy (No. 204). The Philistines knew what the religion of Israel was and had observed it first hand for centuries.

The result was also to stand as a witness to Israel. They asked for a sign that they might tell that it was the God of Israel that smote them with the plagues. It was to have gone up by the way of the House of the Sun, which stood on the border of Judah and Dan.

This is another reprimand for Israel, as they have been backsliders into the worship of the sun cults and Baal-Easter for millennia. They will not learn, even to this very day, for they are a stubborn and rebellious people, the whole house of Israel.

The cart came into the field of Joshua, which is the name of the Messiah, and the cart was used as fuel and the oxen were offered up as a sacrifice to the Lord God in that place called the House of the Sun Beth-Shemesh.

The Ark was set down on the Great Stone of Abel at Beth Shemesh. This is a reference to the Church that was begun with Adam, and the first sacrifices that were accepted as those of righteous Abel. The Holy Spirit had been given to the patriarchs, and the Church had been founded on the Rock that was God with the Ark representing the Holy Spirit. On this stone God would build His church through the Holy Spirit and on the foundation of the apostles with the chief corner stone who was Joshua, the Messiah, the Son of God. Look at the papers The Ark of the Covenant (No. 196); Doctrine of Original Sin Part 2 The Generations of Adam (No. 248) and Joshua, the Messiah, the Son of God (No. 134).

When David slew Goliath we are told that he picked up 5 rocks from the stream, one of which killed Goliath (1Sam. 17:40). Do you think there’s any symbolism to there being 5 rocks and not say 4 or 6 or 7 rocks?

Yes, there is a symbolism. The five rocks represent the five churches that make it into the Kingdom of God in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3. Two churches do not make it. These are Sardis and Laodicea, with only individuals of these organisations who triumph.

One of these churches is used by Messiah, here represented by David, to strike the giant of the world’s systems in the forehead, where is found the mark of its system. In the last days, truth and the well-aimed stone of David as the anointed King of Israel, who is yet to take up his crown, overcome this system. The symbolism of the religious structures of the world and the Philistine’s relationship to them is seen in the paper David and Goliath (No. 126).

What did King David achieve in his life? Why is his story important? How did God touch his life?

A: David was chosen by God to be King of Israel, and David was given the Holy Spirit to achieve that end. He was also placed in various positions and tests to provide lessons for all of us, as to the conduct of a man after God’s own heart.

He was used to make all preparations for the Temple of God. David prepared and then Solomon built the Temple. This was to serve as an illustration of the lessons of creation and the Plan of Salvation. The story of his battle with Goliath and the theological significance of that event are covered in the paper David and Goliath (No. 126).

The place of David in the Plan of God will be dealt with in the paper Rule of the Kings Part II: David (No. 282B). His time in history and the entry into Jerusalem is discussed in the paper Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272). He is to be the king of Israel under Messiah as elohim, as are the elect from Zechariah 12:8.

1Kings

In Exodus 20:3 God commanded us not to make any carved images of anything. When I was studying 1Kings 6, especially verse 23 and on I see that Solomon made 2 cherubim of olivewood and carved others. Why is this? Also what is the significance of the cherubim, palm trees and the open flowers that were carved?

A: The Second Commandment is read in two ways. One is that no image of anything is to be made at all. The second way is that no image on anything that is to be worshipped is to be made. It is “thou shalt not bow down to it or worship it” that is conditional to the making of the image itself.

This is obviously the meaning, otherwise the instructions for the building of the Ark of the Covenant were in direct contradiction to the Second Commandment and Solomon’s actions here, and in the subsequent temple, are all in breach of the Commandment. So too, we see Ezekiel’s Temple is in breach of the Law.

Israel never worshipped any graven image or object, and the cherubim were no exception. It is from Ezekiel that we see the identity and purpose of the anointed Covering Cherubim. There were four of them. They are represented as the Bull-headed, Lion-headed, Eagle-headed, and Man-headed cherubim. They surround the throne of God. Look at the papers The Meaning of Ezekiel’s Vision (No. 108); The Government of God (No. 174) and Pentecost at Sinai (No. 115).

2Kings

From 2Kings chapter 2 is there any significance to the fact that just before Elijah gave his mantle to Elisha and was taken by God, that they went from Gilgal to Bethel, to Jericho, and finally to Jordan, each time Elijah telling Elisha to wait for him?

A: The Gilgal here is not the well known Gilgal near Jericho, but the one between Tibneh and Shiloh (cf. 4:38). In this case, it was a circle. The instructions were a test for devotion and the passage of the power. He had been foreordained, from his anointing, to follow Elijah and to slay those that Jehu did not slay. His devotion shows his progression and identification, and then his receipt of power after the taking of Elijah in the chariot of God. At each point, Elisha was met by prophets and told that his master was to go that day. The effect of all this was to establish Elijah in the eyes of the prophets, and as the key prophet of God.

Would you please explain why 2Kings 25:8 and Jeremiah 52:12 both seem to be describing the same event but have different dates listed? The same question follows with Jehioachin’s release from prison in 2Kings 25:27 and Jer. 52:31.

A: The word in Kings is that he came “to” Jerusalem on the seventh day of the month. He set fire to the city. Jeremiah says he came “into” Jerusalem. This is a bit like the fall of Jerusalem to the Australians and British in December 1917. The attack went in on the seventh, and it was taken by the eighth, but Allenby did not enter until the Australians had secured it and the contingents were in place on the eleventh of the month. This aspect has been examined in the paper The Oracles of God (No. 184).

In the case of the release of Jehoiachin the order appears to have been given on the twenty-fifth day but not carried out until the twenty-seventh. The texts of 2Kings 25:27 in the Septuagint and the Syriac say “and brought him forth out of his prison”. The text in Jeremiah does not say that. Thus, we must deduce that he was ordered released and that he did not take his place at the king’s table for two days. This was probably to rehabilitate him.

Esther

Do you think Esther 9:13 is a prophecy of the 10 men being hung after the Nuremburg trials?

A: This is an interesting parallel but not necessarily prophecy. The Book of Esther is certainly not just a story about Judah 2,500 years ago. Haman was an Amalekite. Agag was killed by Samuel in front of Saul because Saul had let him live. That activity looked forward in prophecy.

The wars of the Amalekites look forward to the days of the end at the end of the forty Jubilees in the wilderness. They were carried out just before Israel went into the Promised Land. Israel was forty years in the Exodus and then fought the wars of the Amalekites. Israel was forty Jubilees in the wilderness and then fought the wars of the 20^th century. The wars of the Fifth and Sixth Trumpets have still to be fought. Look at the papers The Seven Seals (No. 140) and The Seven Trumpets (No. 141).

Over that last period, from 1914 to the present, we have seen a drive for the defeat and extermination of Judah, and also of Israel. The Jews are not the Israelites. Judah is only one Tribe of Israel, and Levi is another while not all Levi is in Judah. The Holocaust was involved in the story of Esther and the hanging at Nuremburg was part of that story, but it has gone on for decades.

The Arab wars are also part of the process. Messiah will come to save those who eagerly await him. Judah will be converted in the last days at the very end. The explanation of the Story of Esther is in the paper Commentary on Esther (No. 63).

Job

Could you explain the significance of the fact that Job had 7 sons and three daughters? These numbers are repeated in that he had 7000 sheep and 3000 camels, 5000 oxen and 5000 she asses. These numbers must have important significance?

A: The round numbers 7, 3 and 5 are held to denote perfection and sufficiency according to Daath Mikra (cf. Soncino fn. to Job). This aspect also carried over into the function of the numbers in relation to the church. The seven spirits of God and the seven angels of the seven churches are accompanied by the three other candlesticks of Messiah and the two witnesses making the ten.

The seven churches have five only that are accounted worthy, and hence five is also the number of grace. The entire structure is one of plenty and sufficiency according to the purpose of God, yet these were allowed to be destroyed by Satan because they sinned. Look at the papers Symbolism of Numbers (No. 7) and Birthdays (No. 287).

The point is that of perfection removed through sin. Children are sanctified in their parents, but are killed through sin. God allows actions to be undertaken to test and deal with people in the faith. Job could not save his children because they were of age and they had taken up with a foreign religious system in the practices they were undertaking as Job knew, and hence the sacrifices.

This lesson is to the church and the nation. The nation is not protected in the birthright promises through idolatry. The Church is not protected in sin. Loss is made good also through faith and faithfulness. The break-up of the 5000 is through grace. The five and the five, wise and foolish virgins also are a consideration in the concept of the retention and loss of salvation.

Can you give me some insight on the book of Job? Was this Job also the Job mentioned in Genesis 46:13?

A: Yes, it is commonly accepted that Job is the son of Issachar mentioned in Genesis 46:13. It seems most probable that Job was in Midian and the friends seem to be Midianites. The work was most likely given to and written by Moses while he was in Midian, and formed the preparation for the Exodus and the writing of the Pentateuch. It may well have been the first book of the Bible written.

Psalms

Can you explain Psalm 82? Is the Psalm referring to the angelic host or the human elect?

A: The text refers to all the sons of God, both heavenly and human. He said he was a son of God and He quoted this Psalm in John 10:34-35 and said that Scripture cannot be broken. We are to all become elohim (cf. also Zech. 12:8). We are all to be sons of God and as elohim or gods. The text also speaks of the fallen host as judging unjustly (the poor here are the oppressed) as well because in 82:7 it says: “But you shall die like men and fall like one of the princes.” Thus, the unjust ones of the elohim are brought down to the pit and die like men and fall as any human prince. This theme is also taken up in Ezekiel 28 ff., and Isaiah 14.

In this text we are speaking of Messiah who stands as judge among the congregation of the elohim. 82:8 says, “Arise o elohim, judge thou the earth for thou shall inherit the nations.” This is Messiah, and the true version of Deuteronomy 32:8 (RSV) has Israel allotted to Yahovah as his inheritance when the nations were allotted to the sons of God. However, here all nations are part of the inheritance and so we see that all nations are to come into Israel and under Messiah. Thus, the entire host will come under Messiah as judge and king. Look also at the paper The City of God (No. 180).

Psalm 137 indicates that Israel’s captors required them to sing “one of the songs of Zion.” This seems like a strange request if you are conquering a people to ask them to remember their songs and the meanings of the song. Any ideas why this request of their captors?

A: The captives of Judah had been taken away, just as Israel had been taken away by the Assyrians under Shalmaneser in 722 BCE. The Babylonians were mocking them. The songs of Zion are the Psalms of the Lord. They were effectively saying, “Well, you were not protected by your God. Where is He now? Sing us a song to Him.” The purpose of captivity is to bring us to repentance and to a knowledge of the Lord God of Hosts. Each time we have fallen into the ways of the heathen we have been sent into captivity and that may well occur again very soon.

Proverbs

I have a question regarding the book of Proverbs, chapters 8 and 9. I’ve heard from people, that the wisdom in that book is Christ. Is that true? I always believed that it was talking about the Holy Spirit or one aspect of that Spirit. Some try to prove the eternal existence of Christ with that text. What is the correct answer?

A: Wisdom is rendered here in the feminine and was understood as the “Sophia,” Greek for “wisdom.” The Holy Spirit is the function or power of God, which confers wisdom. Kings (and princes) reign in wisdom through it, as the text says in verses 15 and 16. The Lord possessed wisdom in the beginning, before His works of Old. The text says: “I was set up from everlasting from the beginning before ever the earth was.”

The Trinitarians cannot use this as a text for the co-eternality of Christ, as it clearly says that wisdom was set up from everlasting: from the beginning. Thus, wisdom is a creation of God, whether it was referring to Christ or the Holy Spirit.

The text that refers to Christ is in verse 30:

“Then I was by Him as one brought up with Him and I was daily His delight; Rejoicing always before Him. Rejoicing in the habitable parts of His world” (Heb: tebel ‘arez and tr. earth in the KJV: See Bullinger fn. to v. 31 Companion Bible).

Whosoever finds wisdom finds life and favour from the Lord. This is the Holy Spirit, which is being spoken of, as the cosmology of the Bible depends on this force of God tying all the sons of God together from their generation.

Thus, for Christ to be one with God, he needed the Holy Spirit to achieve that and thus, the Holy Spirit is logically prior to the unity of the Host. The fact that it was removed from the sons of God who rebelled reinforces that fact.

The comments in chapter 9 place wisdom as a female building her house. She has hewn out the seven pillars. She has killed her beasts, she has mingled her wine and she has sent forth her maidens. She is the Church. The Holy Spirit is the Church because without it, the Temple of God cannot exist. We are that Temple. We are the house of living stones that is the Temple of God. She is the bride of Christ. Her maidens are the elect of the marriage supper. The seven pillars are the angels of the Seven Churches and are the seven spirits of God.

One could say that the invitation to come eat my bread and the wine, which I have mingled, refers to Christ. But remember that John says clearly that Christ had to go to the Father who was his Father and our Father and his God and our God. When he returned to the Apostles he was able then to blow the spirit on them and say, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn. 20:22). The text explains itself.

The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy Spirit is understanding. “For by me your days shall be multiplied and the years of your life shall be increased.” From Proverbs 9:13, we are given the example of the foolish woman, which is the false church under the false spirit set up by the fallen Host under Satan. It is referred to in the New Testament (cf. 1Tim 4:1-2).

There is no doubt we are speaking of two women here and one was with God from everlasting and is the woman that is the Church. The concepts are explained in the papers The Holy Spirit (No. 117); Consubstantial with the Father (No. 81); The Development of the Neo-Platonist Model (No. 17); How God Became a Family (No. 187) and The City of God (No. 180).

I once belonged to a church, which taught that the main message of Proverbs 31 is that women should be subservient to their husbands. While I do agree that the head of the woman is her husband, I am beginning to think that there is more to Proverbs 31. What would you say is the main message in that text?

A: The king is Christ and the woman is the Church, and the Church is then comprised of men as heads of families, and women as the woman. The main message is that the church has to perform as a proverbs 31 woman at all times. The explanation of this text is given in the paper Proverbs 31 (No. 114). Too often the text is used by churches to silence women and deny their own responsibilities.

Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 7:1 states “A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.” Could you explain why the day of death is better than the day of birth? This would seem to be the opposite of what most people would believe?

A: The celebration of birthdays is a pagan custom that came from the Babylonians. Look at the paper Birthdays (No. 287). The idea is carried on by the Satanists and the Stargazers, who use it as a fate determination and to elevate the individual above God and as a god. The Bible position forbids this view. Our destiny is to become sons of God. We await the resurrection of the dead so we can become sons of God in power through the Holy Spirit so God can become all in all (Eph. 4:6). Look at the papers The Soul (No. 92) and The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143).

So, you’re saying that the day of one’s death is better than that of their birth because we are that much closer to the final destiny of mankind which is to be a son of God in power, as God becomes all in all? Interesting how Satan has deceived most of the world into celebrating their birthday while confusing them as to their destiny after the resurrection from the dead.

A: Yes, the Soul Doctrine and the invention of the great lies of Heaven and Hell are part of the deception of the false religious system he established.

PROPHETS

Isaiah

Does Pharaoh have symbolic meaning for the future exodus that is coming?

A: Sodom and Egypt are names for the nations under the demons. In this sense Pharaoh is a name for Satan, as is Tyre and Babylon. In the coming Exodus the demons under Satan will be bound. The Bible shows that Israel will march out of the north, hand in hand with Assyria, and a highway will be built from the north to Jerusalem and also from Egypt to Assyria (Isa 19:23). They shall all serve together, and Israel will be a third with them. They will all be blessed together by God and they will serve the Lord together from Jerusalem.

Isaiah walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign to Egypt and Ethiopia that they would be taken captive, and the coast land would also be taken captive, naked and barefoot by the Assyrians (Isa. 20:3-6). In the final phase the breach will be healed and they will serve the Lord together at Jerusalem. Look at the paper Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272); Trumpets (No. 136); The Day of the Lord and the Last Days (No. 192); The Seven Trumpets (No 141) and The Millennium and the Rapture (No. 95).

Who is being spoken of here in Isaiah?

Isaiah 65:1-6 I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. ² I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; ³ A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; ⁴ Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; ⁵ Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. ⁶ Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom,

A: There are two groups here. One group represents the gentiles of the church who seek God and obey His commandments. The other represents the nation of Israel, and those who associate themselves with it – those who know God but eat swine flesh and other abominations and burn incense on their hewn and constructed altars contrary to God’s Law.

These are the false priests of the false religious system who destroy the commandments of God and lead the people astray. They set themselves apart as holy from the people they lead. God says these people are an abomination in His sight, a smoke in His nostrils. To fully understand the ramifications of the text, you have to know where the ten tribes of Israel are found. Israel is not the Jewish people, but Judah is one of the twelve tribes of Israel. There are elements of Judah, which also fall into this self-righteous mentality. It stems from the Pharisees and entered rabbinical Judaism from that source.

The movement of the Tribes and their location is discussed in the paper The Unitarian/Trinitarian Wars (No. 268). The identity of these false priests and what happens to them is also discussed in the paper The Messages of Revelation 14 (No. 270).

Isaiah 26:14; 43:17 and Jeremiah 51:57 are used by some to claim that there are many that will not be awakened from the dead. To whom are these verses referring? Was it from a certain time frame only?

A: The text in Isaiah 26:13-14 refers to the Rephaim, who have no resurrection. They are the Nephilim of Genesis 6:4. Their identities are examined in the paper The Nephilim (No. 154). Jeremiah 51:57 refers to the fall of Babylon and the death of the host who are with them. This is not the same as the Rephaim in Isaiah. These people are put to sleep and are dead. However, the matters are examined in the papers The Judgment of the Demons (No. 80) and The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143).

What is meant by purifying themselves in the gardens behind one tree? Why the reference again to eating swine flesh? What’s the significance of the mouse? (Isa 66:17)

A: The structure of the Mystery cults was around the Asherah, which was often an oak tree. Isaiah 1:29 commences this sequence and we see it in the texts in 57:5; 65:3; and 66:17. It runs oaks, gardens, oak, garden in the sequence. These are the places of worship in the Mystery cults. The oak leaf is also condemned in 1:30. The Asherah was a phallus and it was often used with a phallic implement.

The cutting of mistletoe and the other items associated with the solstice are part of this festival. It is the basis of Christmas and Easter. In the depictions of the mystery cults in the Roman frescoes there was also a kid. This appears to be the origin of the Bible prohibition of the kid seethed in the milk of its mother. A phallic implement was also depicted and that is why the mysteries were also popular with the women. The fertility rites associated with these systems came in as the Christmas and Janus festivals. They then went on through the Carnival and Shrove to Ash Wednesday, and then Lent, and on into the Easter festivities. None of it is Christian, and that is what God is condemning here. Look at the paper The Origins of Christmas and Easter (No. 235).

The mouse is ‘akbar (SHD 5909 pr. ‘akbawr) as attacking and hence a mouse as nibbling. There are twenty-three members of the family Muridae in Palestine, and we are unsure of the exact species. There was a cultic practice of sacrificing and eating field mice, and Maimonedes preserves the tradition that it was carried out by the Harranians. Haran was the centre of the Babylonian Moon cult from 2000 BCE, and hence the centre of the mystery cults. It was a centre of Lunar paganism down until Christian Times. (cf. Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 2, p. 524). They worshipped the Moon God, Sin, and the Triune system of the Mother goddess, and the Easter and sun system. This same system penetrated Christianity. Look also at the paper The Golden Calf (No. 222).

The real problem is that Israel will not repent of this evil. The English speaking people, and the European Aryans, are wedded to their iniquity and to these pagan festivals.

The entire civil calendar of the USA is based on the pagan days of Human Sacrifice. It is impossible for it to be a coincidence. The administration has to be influenced by paganism and witchcraft at their decision making levels. God will deal with these people very soon.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 4:15ff. seems to infer a prophet in the end times warning the nations and condemning false religions etc. How will we know when this prophet is among us? Is there a time sequence for this prophet?

A: The text refers to the voice from Dan that publishes affliction from the mountains of Ephraim. Warn the nations that “He” is coming and beseigers or watchers come from a distant land. The term in this text is not the same as the Watchers elsewhere and thus may not refer to the heavenly host.

The text is corrupted in some Bibles because of its implications. The fact of the voice does not mean it is a single prophet but rather it is a warning issued in the last days concerning the coming of the Messiah and may be a work of many people of the church. It is however a specific warning. The question has been examined in the paper The Warning of the Last Days (No. 44).

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 46:20 seems to say that animal sacrifices will be performed again in the Kingdom? Could this be possible?

A: Yes, it does and they will be performed. The killing of animals will be for the festivals and systems of worship on the Sabbaths and New Moons. Zechariah 14:16-21 shows clearly also that there will be meat killed and eaten in Jerusalem and the pots shall be holy to the Lord. Look at the papers: The Millennium and the Rapture (No. 95); Vegetarianism and the Bible (No. 183); God’s Calendar (No. 156) and Law and the Fourth Commandment (No. 256).

We read in Ezekiel chapter 26 about the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. In verse 21 it says that Tyre shall be no more and never found again. Yet, in Matthew 15:21, we find Jesus going to Tyre. How can this be?

A: Tyre was taken by Nebuchadnezzar after a thirteen year siege (Isa. 23:1; Josephus. A of J, x, 11, 1; Contr. Apion, i, 20). The prophecy began to be fulfilled then. The prophecy covers a period of time and deals with it as a declaration.

The fate of Sidon was different. Tyre was destroyed and was a promontory in the sea and she was made as a bare rock. The garrisons or pillars are visible even today in the sea. The area was known at the time of Christ and the text of which you speak says he went into the parts or regions of Tyre and Sidon. It is rendered “coasts” in the KJV. The text in Ezekiel is concerned with the fallen host as well, and Tyre typifies Satan and we see that develop over the texts in Ezekiel 28. The text in chapter 29 then goes on to deal with Egypt and its fall. See the paper The Fall of Egypt The Prophecy of Pharaoh’s Broken Arms (No. 36).

Is there a reason in Ezekial’s Temple that there are carvings of a young lion’s face toward a palm tree and a man’s face toward the palm tree on the other side?

A: Yes, there is a reason. The lion-headed and man-headed beings are the two living creatures around the throne of God. The palm tree represents Messiah, who was the tree Moses used to cleanse the waters at Meribah on the way to Sinai. In other words, we could not take of the Holy Spirit without Messiah.

The rebellion involved a third of the Host, but one area is only a quadrant thus, there had to be two quadrants involved in the rebellion. These are the manheaded and aeon systems. These two beings are to be replaced and the elohim, with Messiah, are listed in the Bible. They are Moses (Ex 7:1) and Abraham. The text that makes Abraham an elohim has been mistranslated so it is impossible to find except in the original Hebrew. Look at the papers The Government of God (No. 174); How God Became a Family (No. 187) and The Covenant of God (No. 152).

Most of the people that have entered Israel since the war do not keep God’s Law. How do you understand the following scripture?

Ezekiel 20:37-38 “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will let you go in by number. ³⁸ I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.” (RSV)

A: The Jews are only a part of Israel. There are nations of the ten tribes still out there who are greater and mightier than the Jews. In the last days there will be a second Exodus. This Exodus will make the first one pale into insignificance. It is mentioned in Isaiah (66:18-23).

This period sees the First Resurrection and then the breaking of the nations at Armageddon. After that event, the nations will be required to give up their Israelites from among them and they will be returned under the rod, as was Israel in the first Exodus.

Some that have already returned will be sent away into captivity. These rebellious will also die in the wilderness. The only people who will return will be those who keep God’s Law either physically or spiritually. All others will be allowed to die in the wilderness. Each will pass under the rod of judgment.

Those nations, which do not obey and send their representatives to Jerusalem each year at the feast of Tabernacles, will be given no rain in due season. Those that attempt to get around the law by irrigation, such as in Egypt, will be destroyed by plagues (Zech. 14:16-19). Eventually everyone will keep the Commandments of God and the Feasts, New Moons and Sabbaths.

The people who argue that the Law was nailed to the “stauros” in Colossians 2:14 will simply die. There will be no further discussion. That is Scripture, and Scripture cannot be broken. Look also at the papers Measuring the Temple (No. 137) and Law and the Fourth Commandment (No. 256).

Daniel

Could you explain to me Daniel 7:23-27?

A: The fourth kingdom is the “legs of iron” of chapter 2. This empire was the Roman Empire. It followed the gold of Babylon and the silver of the Medes and Persians and the brass of the Greeks and the Hellenised system. It went on into the feet of iron and clay.

The feet referred to the Holy Roman Empire formed in 590 CE and which lasted until the revolutions in 1848 ending in 1850 and being confined in 1870. The ten kings did arise and form part of this system. They persecuted the saints over the 1260 years of the empire. They first subdued the ten tribes by intrigue and treason after the fall of the Parthian Empire and the move into Europe (see the paper The Unitarian/Trinitarian Wars (No. 268)).

The feet also had ten toes, which formed the structure of the Alcvin twins or the “Thing” of Europe: The Parliament of the Aryans. In the last days this union forms a beast. This entire structure is the system of Antichrist, yet it claims for itself the power of God and uses that charge against others. This system wore out the Saints of the Most High over the 1,260 years, and in the 20^th century from WWI and the Holocaust to the end of WWII and the death of Stalin.

The system changed times and laws for its followers. The “three and a half times” of the 1,260 years is the same time as that in Revelation 12. The Church is pursued by the dragon, which tries to kill the seed of the woman. But the earth helped her and swallowed the Church so that it could not be identified and destroyed by this false religious system and the power of the dragon.

This system will establish a final empire for one hour, which will rule the world and then disaster will descend upon it. The kingdom will be given to the Saints in the final wars of the end. Soon Christ will come to save those who eagerly await him.

In Daniel 12:1-2 God tells us of a time when Michael stands up and there shall be a time of trouble unlike ever before. Then the Bible says: ‘at that time many that sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life and some to everlasting contempt’. Which resurrection is this and what exactly does it mean to be raised to “everlasting contempt”?

A: This period is referring to the Day of the Lord and to the entire structure of the resurrection. The concept here of everlasting life means the restoration to the spiritual fold as sons of God. The words “everlasting” here are “owlam” (SHD 5769) meaning time out of mind or to the vanishing point from the concept of concealed.

The Hebrew word rendered “contempt” is actually two words, neither of which is confined to what we understand as contempt. The first one is SHD 2781 “cherpah,” meaning reproaches or shame. The second is “dera’own,” (SHD 1860) meaning abhorring, and in this sense it is contempt.

The view is that individuals will face judgment. The shame and abhorrence one feels when sin is made known is a very serious matter. We are healed by grace and the love of God. That does not mean we do not face shame for what we have done ourselves, and many will endure that knowledge as spirit beings and know that other spirit beings also know their sin.

That is why forgiveness is so central to the love of God. If we cannot forgive others, how can we expect forgiveness and, most importantly, how can we deal with shame that comes from perfect knowledge as a spirit being? The details of these processes are explained in the papers: The Soul (No. 92); The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143) and The City of God (No. 180).

In Daniel 2:43 there is a statement about the toes of the image that says that “they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” My question is who are the “they” being spoken of here, and what is meant by not mingling themselves with the seed of men?

A: These ten kings are also spiritual powers as the sons of God from Deuteronomy 32:8 who were allocated the nations according to the number of the sons of God. There were two cherubim, Satan and the Aeon and ten others making the inner twelve elohim of the fallen host. This was then also extended to seventy in the original.

This is a reason why Deuteronomy 32:8 was changed after the fall of the temple and the Jewish Hebrew MT is incorrect. One of the few Bibles that has it right is the RSV. Another is the Roman Catholic New American Bible. Thus, the government is that of the Antichrist over the entire period of its existence. It is the image of the beast of the Holy Roman Empire and then the union of Europe in the last days. This union is given dominion over the whole world and Christ returns to destroy it.

The demons are not allowed to mingle with the seed of men as they did prior to the flood. That happens within the Sign of Jonah and the fortieth Jubilee. “Their days” means the end of the time of the fifth and sixth power. Look at the paper Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272).

Daniel 7:9-10 seems to refer to fire being at the throne of God. What is the symbolism of fire? There are so many items that come to mind: the burning bush, pillar of fire, walking on coals of fire, etc.

A: The fire is the spiritual power that issues from the Throne of God. As the Ancient of Days, He dwells in unapproachable light. No man has ever seen him, or can see Him. He alone is immortal (1Tim. 6:16). It is in this aspect, as the One True God and Creator, that He is seen as Judge of the Universe. He has given this power to Christ in judgment.

Fire is used to portray the spirits, and power of God, and also the demons that fell from grace before this throne. That is why the flame is so important in demonology, especially in the seats of its power, for example at Rome in the Temple of Vesta and among the curia.

In the book of Daniel, we read of the three friends of Daniel being thrown into the oven. Is there some kind of symbolism here, and if so what is it? Also, why three men and not say seven, or twelve?

A: The three friends were chosen with Daniel to show the captivity of Israel and its deliverance under persecution.

The Triune system is represented also in these three. They were taken by Babylon and given names of the Babylonian system and these three represent in their own way the elect called out under God’s protection. The Son of Man was sent to protect them. As Christ walks with these three in the furnace he walks with us now. The heat of the furnace has been raised and as it killed the guards there so it will kill the system in the last days.

There are so many references to lions in scripture. Do you have any idea why Daniel was thrown into a lion’s den versus some other kind of animal or other test?

A: Lions were the largest predators available to them in Mesopotamia. They used them for disciplinary reasons as far down as the Roman Empire. They did not feed them well so that they would tear their victims to death and eat them.

Many of God’s people were tested in this way and were torn apart by wild animals. Daniel had no way of knowing if God would protect him or not. The same was true in the furnace of fire. They said, “We do not know if God will save us or not, but we will not worship you.” In this case, the king pronounced his own judgment as he said, “Your God whom you continually serve, He will deliver you.” In this case, God did this as an example to the king.

The king was caught in his own laws. His decree could not be altered even though he knew he had been tricked into the plan to kill Daniel. The fact that King Astyages spent the night fasting for Daniel showed his respect, and God heard the prayers of the king. The people who sought to kill Daniel set the test.

The Bible position is this: “He who digs a pit for another, falls into it himself and catches himself in his own snare getting out” (Prov 26:27). These people were then killed and eaten by the same lions they sought to use to kill Daniel, as were their wives and children. This is a powerful lesson on the laws of God (see The Law of God (No. L1)).

Hosea

What is the meaning of the Door of Hope and valley of Achor in Hosea 2:15?

A: “Achor” means, “trouble.” The Door of Hope is Christ who is the door of salvation. The valley of trouble becomes the door of hope. This text must be compared with Joshua 7:24-26. Israel was burdened through the idolatry of some among it and one, Achan was stoned to death. The Lord’s wrath was stilled in that day and the valley of Achor also became a valley of hope to those who trusted in God through the Messiah. Look also at the paper The Fall of Jericho (No. 142).

Hosea takes the story of Joshua onward to the end days, and the idolatry that has permeated Israel through the Baal-Easter system will be removed. Israel shall be restored and they will call Yahovah, “Ishi” and “Baali” no more. For He will remove the names of these idolatrous gods from among us.

Joel

Could you explain Joel 2:23 for me? Some Bibles translate “early rain” as “teacher of righteousness”. Does this refer to Jesus and/or someone else?

A: Joel 2:23 is a prophecy that concerns Messiah and the Holy Spirit. The rainfall system in Israel was sparse and they were placed there in Canaan so that they were in direct relationship with God. The blessing of the rain was indicative of that relationship. That was in direct contrast to Egypt that relied on flood irrigation. The crops of Barley and wheat are reliant on the rains to develop their root system and then to branch correctly. The latter rain is necessary to fill out the corn for harvest. But it must not be too late other wise the crop is blackened.

Thus, the latter rain falls early in the first month to enable the Wave Sheaf and the subsequent harvest to be fully developed. Christ was the Passover lamb, but He was also the Wave Sheaf offering at 9 a.m. on the Sunday Morning. This also began the count to Pentecost of fifty days occurring on the Sunday at 9 a.m. fifty days later.

When Christ was presented as the Wave Sheaf, on the Sunday morning after the resurrection the previous evening (see John 20:17), He told Mary Magdalene to go and tell the disciples that he was going to His Father and their Father, and His God and their God.

Later that same day before dark, He returned and spoke to the disciples and breathed on them the Holy Spirit. This was the sign that He had returned with the rain of the Holy Spirit. Now this latter rain aspect has a twofold meaning. He was the Messiah of two advents. This was the former rain of the planting as well as the Passover of the harvest. The Omer count had begun to the wheat harvest, which harvest we are.

The latter rain will come with the Restoration of all things spoken of by Malachi. That process is commencing to be implemented now. In a few years, the witnesses will be with us and then the nexus of the law will be restored. Then the Messiah will come. Thus the latter rain is the final pouring out of the Holy Spirit on all mankind. It will take a lot of hard knocks to get there however, as most of humanity seems dedicated to destroying itself and ignoring God.

Micah

What is the meaning of: I set before you Moses, Aaron, Miriam? What symbolism do these individuals have when we read scripture? (Mic. 6:4)

A: Moses, Aaron and Miriam were sent before Israel when they were brought up out of the land of Egypt. The symbolism here in Micah 6:4 is that The Lord is expressing His controversy with Israel. He asks where has He wearied Israel? What has He done to us? He asks us to testify against Him. He brought us out of Egypt and He gave us leaders, priests, and prophets as represented by these three. He does nothing except that he warns His people through His servants the prophets first.

He reminds Israel of what the Moabites under Balak wanted to do and how they wanted to use Balaam, son of Beor. However, God was righteous. He also says that He requires us to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. The rich among us use wrong measures and rob from the poor. The rich are full of violence and the inhabitants of our cities speak lies and are full of deceit.

He will smite Israel for the statues of Omri and all the works of the house of Ahab who served Baal-Easter. For this He will make us a desolation and a reproach. Israel still worships the Easter goddess to this very day. They are filled with the servants of Baal-Easter and the Khemarim, or black cassocked priests, who worship the sun cults and Easter. Their laws are not based on the law of God and they are changing them daily to this false European system. The inhabitants of the city are being spoken to in rebuke.

Chapter 5 speaks of the Messiah and His establishment of Israel. Chapter 6 deals with his rebuke of Israel. In this entire process, we see a span of 2000 years or forty jubilees. Messiah came, and Judah was given 40 years to repent but did not, and they were destroyed. The church was sent into the wilderness for forty jubilees, and a new order of Melchisedek was established. Messiah was at its head. In this period of time, Israel was given its birthright and will be brought to subjection before its God, and then the nations will be brought into it.

This period is covered in the paper Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272). The papers Measuring the Temple (No. 137) and The Messages of Revelation 14 (No. 270) are also important to understanding what is happening.

Would you please explain the meaning of Micah 5:5. Who are the 7 shepherds and 8 leaders of men?

A: Micah 5:2-3 refers to Messiah and the meaning of that text is covered in the paper Micah 5:2-3 (No. 121). The text in Micah 5:5 refers to the invasion of the nation of Israel in the last days by Assyria. Isaiah 5:3 refers to the Church, which Christ has given up to the world until she has brought forth those of the elect who were predestined. Then, the remnant of Christ’s brethren shall be returned unto the children of Israel, which is also the Church.

At that time of the end, there will be a great tribulation and Messiah shall return to save those who eagerly await him. He shall stand in Israel as the great shepherd of Israel. The term feed means to tend as the flock.

Compare the following verses with this verse. Psalm 80:1; Jeremiah 31:10; Ezekiel 34:23; and importantly Genesis 49:24. He shall be great refers also to Psalm. 22:27; 72:8; 98:1; Isaiah 49:5,7; 52:13; Zechariah 9:10. The Hebrew regarding the Assyrian is emphatic. The terms regarding “When he shall tread in our palaces” can be compared with Isaiah 7:20; 8:7-10; 37:31-36;

The sequence as to what follows can also be compared with Isaiah 44:28; 59:19; Zechariah 1:18-21; 9:13; 10:3; 12:6. In the last days, the Israelite nations will be so weakened by treason from within and apostasy, that the Assyrian people will enter Israel. They will then turn to Messiah in repentance.

In the sequence that follows, there will be raised seven shepherds and eight principal men. This sequence is yet to be fulfilled. The concept of seven shepherds is akin to the seven angels of the seven churches. The eight principal men are akin to the judges in Israel as war leaders. The exact nature of this prophecy has not yet been revealed.

The time frame would indicate that this will occur probably in the next ten years. Seven nations under Ephraim will be galvanised with the eighth of Manasseh. The European system will again commence the war — WWIII. This time the English-speaking people will be destroyed by treason from within, through the agency of this European system. They will fight on their own soil for their very survival.

Messiah will return and the nations will be brought to repentance through their own almost total annihilation. Zechariah 2:8-13 shows that Yahovah of Hosts sends Yahovah to Jerusalem in the last days, and Messiah shall stand there to protect it. Judah will be restored in the last days, as will Jerusalem.

Isaiah shows that after this, Assyria and Israel will come hand in hand out of the north. In other words, Assyria will be brought to repentance as well. Have a look at the process in the papers Measuring the Temple (No. 137) and Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272).

The text in Micah 5:7-8 shows that the remnant of Jacob shall be mighty as a young lion among the Gentiles at that time. There is a distinction between the land of Assyria and the Land of Nimrod in this text (cf. Gen. 10:8-10). The entrances mean the passes of the land of Nimrod.

In other words, we will be cleaned of apostasy and weakness through our tribulation and the saving strength of Messiah. In the last days, we will have gone through the process of weakening and strengthening. Manasseh fed of Ephraim, and now Ephraim must feed of Manasseh, but at the end time both will feed of Judah under Messiah.

Zechariah

When do you think this prophecy of Zechariah 14 will come to pass?

Zechariah 14:16-19 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.¹⁷And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. ¹⁸ And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.¹⁹ This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

A: After the return of the Messiah, the armies of the nations will be brought down to Armageddon and subjugated. Then the Second Great Exodus will occur. The system of the millennial structure will be set up at Jerusalem and the Law of God will emanate from there. All nations will be required to keep the Holy Days of the Bible (cf. Isa. 66:23) and send their representatives to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles and especially for the Reading of the Law in the seventh year. If they do not go up to Jerusalem every year, that nation will receive no rain and suffer the plagues of Egypt. This will take effect from the 121st Jubilee, which is the 41st since Messiah, and the 50th since the Restoration under Ezra and Nehemiah and the issue of what became the finalisation of the canon of Scripture, which we term the Old Testament. Look at the papers Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272) and Reading the Law with Ezra and Nehemiah (No. 250). This is Scripture and Scripture cannot be broken. The cosmology of the Roman Catholic Church is borrowed from the pagans and Gnostics and has completely negated the doctrines of the original Church through their introduced traditions.

God’s Calendar

In some literature, there is reference to blowing a trumpet on the full moon. In searching the Strong’s Concordance, I cannot find the term “Full Moon” mentioned even one time. Do we ever need to determine when the full moon happens?

A: No, it is not mentioned but some try to make Psalm 81:3 say “full moon” when it is the “new moon” of Abib or the new year in Abib or Nisan that is meant as the solemn New Year feast of the First Moon. It is a New Moon. If the New Moon is correctly determined according to the conjunction, then the feasts will fall correctly anyway.

The Feasts are centred on and determined from the New Moons according to the conjunction. These aspects are discussed in the papers: The Moon and the New Year (No. 213) and God’s Calendar (No. 156). Some fall on the full moon but all are determined from the New Moon. The full moon has significance for paganism and non-biblical cults.

Due to the passage at Joshua 10:13 where it is said that the moon stood still for about a day, some have said that time has been lost and that we cannot determine the exact days that God set aside for worship. Does this fact cause any calendar concerns for us today?

A: There are a number of miracles in connection with the sun and the moon. 2Kings 20:11 and Isaiah 38:8 also show that the sun went backwards. Amos 8:9 says it went down at noon. Isaiah 60:20 mentions “no more going down.” It is darkened in Isaiah 13:10; Ezekiel 32:7; Joel 2:10:31; 3:15 and Matthew 24:29; Revelation 6:12; 8:12; 9:2; 16:8.

This miracle is to be performed again (Luke 23:44,45). Psalm 19:4-6 deals with the motion. The important thing to note is that at no time was it ever suggested by any of God prophets that the times had been lost or the days misplaced. The entire Temple period was regulated according to the Calendar and there was never any suggestion, from Joshua to the close of the Temple, that the Sabbath and other days had been misplaced. Christ was silent on the matter and kept the entire Temple calendar.

If a day had been lost, then He was presented as the Wave Sheaf on the wrong day and there are no firstfruits. There has never been any suggestion that the Sabbath is misplaced except for a few uninformed Protestants who try to make Sunday the Sabbath. An equally uninformed group in Islam are trying to make the sixth day of the week the Sabbath using exactly the same arguments as the Protestants do for Sunday.

You have commented on the number seven being significant. Is there any correlation of the 7 days of the week to God’s plan?

A: Yes, the number 7 is the symbol of perfect spiritual completion and it relates to the entire creation. The seven days of the week are also of that complete creation. The Seventh Day Sabbath is part of the Plan of God, as a perfect “Sabbaton” or week made complete by the reconciliation to God in the last day, which is the Sabbath. The Hebrews and Arabs always had the week ending on the Sabbath.

The seven-day week came into the Roman system from the Egyptians. The Babylonians began the corruption of the week with the seventh day being determined from the New Moon instead of being independent from it (cf. ERE, vol. 3, p. 63). Look also at the paper God’s Calendar (No. 156).

Jubilee

What is a Jubilee, and what if anything is its significance?

A: The Jubilee is the key cycle of fifty years in the calendar and the Law of God. The Jubilee determines the cycles of the tithe and of land ownership and control. It ensures freedom from oppression and slavery.

The Jubilee is a cycle of fifty years with the Jubilee year as the fiftieth year, but starting in the forty-ninth year with Atonement and lasting until Atonement in the Fiftieth. The Jubilee is blown at Atonement. The Law is read in the seventh year of the cycle and also with the Jubilee when all lands are returned to the lines of owners in the tribes. From the day after the Last Great Day at the end of Tabernacles the lands are then worked. That is so the harvest is ready again for the barley harvest at Passover and the Wave Sheaf Ceremony in Unleavened Bread. Look at the papers Law and the Fourth Commandment (No. 256); God’s Calendar (No. 156); Reading the Law with Ezra and Nehemiah (No. 250) and Tithing (No. 161).

We’ve learned that there are 7-year time cycles similar to the 7-day week and that the 7th year of each cycle is like the 7th day Sabbath where there is a rest. Then after 7 of these cycles, or at 7 X 7 (49) there is a special rest year called a Jubilee. How is the Jubilee year counted then? It would not start the next cycle as year 1 would it?

A: The Jubilee is counted as an eighth year of the cycle. It runs from Atonement of the Sabbath year to Atonement of the Jubilee year unlike normal years. This is so the restoration of lands can be made and the new holders can commence ploughing and sowing for the harvest at the Passover of the next and first year of the new Sabbath and Jubilee cycle. The cycle of the Jubilee is covered in the papers: God’s Calendar (No. 156); Tithing (No. 161) and Law and the Fourth Commandment (No. 256).

The Jubilee seems to be “blown” on Atonement (Lev. 25:9) and I assume this is a special observance during that particular 8th year. If it actually begins with Atonement then into which year do the first 7 months fall that occur just after the last day of the previous 7th year? Is it an extension of the 7th year or is this space of time not counted at all until Atonement? Could it be that the Jubilee functions start at Atonement and then extend partly into this New First Year?

A: In the 48th year of the jubilee cycle, which is the Sixth year of the Seventh Sabbath cycle, God gives a treble harvest. The next year in which this occurs will be 2025. The Sabbath year of the cycle starts at 1 Abib, like all normal years. From Trumpets the reading of the law is prepared, as we saw in the restoration of Ezra and Nehemiah. The Jubilee year commences from Atonement in the Sabbath year and continues until Atonement in the Jubilee year. At Tabernacles of that Sabbath year, the Law is read and the Jubilee festivities and the rest accorded to the lands and trees occurs.

From the blowing of Atonement in the jubilee year, all lands revert to their owners. Only the houses in towns can be sold in perpetuity. After the Last Great Day following Tabernacles all the restoration is put in place. This is termed the eighth year for the purposes of calculation. This period of five months is used for ploughing and sowing so that the first harvest can occur in the month of Abib of the first year of the new cycle. Look at the papers: Tithing (No. 161); Law and the Fourth Commandment (No. 256); Reading the Law with Ezra and Nehemiah (No. 250) and God’s Calendar (No. 156).

In a previous question it was said the Jubilee year is from Atonement to the next Atonement or in the fall of the year. Stored crops are eaten and there is no planting or tithe paying. What happens to the next five months and are they in the 50th or the 1st year of the next cycle?

A: The Bible says that they were in the eighth year of the cycle, which is the Jubilee year. However, the actual Jubilee itself is blown from Atonement to Atonement, which is why there is a treble harvest year in the 48th year of the Jubilee cycle, to enable this extended period of rest. The preparation for the harvests must be undertaken after the Last Great Day of the Feast cycle in the Seventh month, and so that period is normal for agricultural purposes. The structure is examined in the papers Law and the Fourth Commandment (No. 256) and Tithing (No. 161).

When does the Jubilee end? Are there different jubilees for different kinds of people?

A: There is only one true jubilee–the jubilee of the Bible. It is fifty years in duration and consists of seven seven-year cycles with the fiftieth year as the jubilee. The jubilee is also called the Acceptable Year of the Lord and was declared by Christ in 27 CE, the year he was baptised by John. The determination of the jubilee year is made from a number of Bible references. Look at the paper Law and the Fourth Commandment (No. 256).

The jubilees occur in the years 27 and 77 of each century of the current era, and the years 24 and 74 BCE. The reading of the Law occurs at each Sabbath year and in each jubilee. The jubilee is declared or blown from Atonement of the Sabbath to Atonement of the Jubilee year. Look at the paper Reading the Law with Ezra and Nehemiah (No. 250).

In that year, all lands are to be restored and the jubilee acts as an eighth year of the cycle. From the end of the Last Great Day of the Feasts of Tabernacles, the lands are ploughed and sown for the Harvests of the next year in Abib and through to the Wheat Harvest at Pentecost.

New Years day begins on 1 Abib approximating March of the Pagan Roman Calendar. This is explained in the paper The Moon and the New Year (No. 213). The calendar is set by God from Creation and is essential for the correct system of worship. Look at God’s Calendar (No. 156). The year 2000 is an invention of man and is not a jubilee year. Look at the paper The Significance of the Year 2000 (No. 286).

Feasts

We are told to keep the holy days of YHVH-where He places His Name. In this world today with all the confusion in the churches how can we really know where He places His name for His feasts?

A: Finding a place where Yahovah has placed His name is the same commandment to discern the body of Christ for the Passover. We are all commanded to discern the body of Christ in order to take the Lord’s Supper and Passover sequence with that body. To do that we normally examine which church is faithfully adhering to the doctrines of the Original Church of God. In the past, that has been fairly easy as we have normally been underground and persecuted but faithful to the truth.

The Doctrine of the nature of God was readily understood, and Christ was understood to be the Great Angel of the Old Testament who gave the Law to Moses and was never confused with the One True God. This century the Hillel Calendar was introduced from Judaism in some branches, which has made it even more diverse.

The task is fairly simple on the face of it. You have to find the people on the planet doing what the Church has done for two thousand years; keeping the original Calendar with all the Sabbaths and Feasts (including the Wave Sheaf service and New Moons) and worshipping the one True God in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Once you have found them, you have found the place where God has placed his hand and where Christ will be for the Feast. Nothing has changed — there are just more errors and confusion in the last days. The work by Samuel Kohn, Sabbatarians in Transylvania will show you what the church was doing at the Reformation in Europe. We are still doing the same thing.

If the men of Israel were to go to Judea at least 3 times a year, on Passover, Tabernacles, and First Fruits, and now Jesus is our Passover and Pentecost is our First Fruits, that leaves Tabernacles as the required Feast right? Why do we have a weekly Service to hear the word? What did the men of Israel do the rest of the year? We should only have to go to services 2 or 3 times a year.

A: The commanded assemblies of God are in Leviticus 23 and the New Moons in Numbers 10. The Sabbath is the first commanded assembly and feast of the Lord. Thus, it precedes the others and all the commanded assemblies of God flow from this text and the Fourth commandment. The New Testament church had to keep Pentecost at the right place and time together otherwise the Holy Spirit would not have come upon them. The weekly Sabbath was kept by the New Testament church; and so were the New Moons. They also kept Passover and Unleavened Bread, the Wave Sheaf, which is the first of the First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. Acts shows they kept the feasts. Colossians 2:16 shows they kept the Sabbath, New Moons and Feasts and were not to let anyone judge them in how they kept them.

The Bible is quite clear, Christ will enforce the Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts when He returns, and if you do not keep them you will die of starvation or the plagues of Egypt (Isa. 66:23; Zech. 14:16-19). The Witnesses will be the first to address this issue when they get here and Elijah restores the Nexus of the Law and restores all things. Then all debates are over.

What exactly is the ‘fat of the feast’ mentioned in Exodus 23:18?

A: The fat of the feast in this context is the same as that used for the command to eat the fat and drink the sweet in the Restoration of Ezra and Nehemiah (Neh. 8:10). It has nothing to do with the consumption of, or usage of animal fat. It is the concept of the fat and sweet of the feast being distributed, and the offerings taken as soon as the feast is commenced. Thus, the Levites and the poor can eat.

That is why there are only three offerings, one at the beginning of each feast season. The Second Tithe is also used for this activity as we see by Nehemiah’s command on the Day of Trumpets. The fat of the feast, the offerings, are not to remain until the morning. In other words, they are to be collected and used, being distributed to the poor so that they may also enjoy the feast in a timely manner.

Pentecost

What day is Pentecost?

Many Christian churches, that observe God’s holy days, calculate the day of Pentecost by counting fifty days from the day after the weekly Sabbath that falls within the days of Unleavened Bread. This is the Wave Sheaf Offering (Sunday) which commences the countdown to Pentecost (Lev 23:15-17).

The early church kept Pentecost on a Sunday. Only the Jews kept a Sivan 6 and only after the Temple was destroyed. See the paper The Wave Sheaf Offering (No. 106b).

What is the meaning of Shavuot?

A: Note: Shavuot = Feast of Weeks or Pentecost.

“Unlike all the other Holidays in the Tanach [Hebrew Scriptures], the Feast of Weeks is not given a fixed calendar date but instead we are commanded to celebrate it at the end of a 50-day period known as “The Counting of the Omer” (Shavuot being the 50th day). The commencement of this 50-day period is marked by the bringing of the Omer Offering in the Temple as we read, “And you shall count from the morrow after the Sabbath from the day you bring the Omer [Sheaf] of Waving; seven complete Sabbaths shall you count… until the morrow of the seventh Sabbath you will count fifty days… and you shall proclaim on this very day, it shall be a holy convocation for you ” (Lev 23,15-16.21).”

In late Second Temple times a debate arose between the Boethusians and the Pharisees about whether the “morrow after the Sabbath” [Heb. Mimohorat Ha-Shabbat] refers to the Sunday during Hag HaMatzot [Feast of Unleavened Bread] or the second day of Hag HaMatzot (i.e. the 16th of Nissan). Like the Boethusians and Ancient Israelites before them, the Karaites count the 50 days of the Omer from the Sunday during Hag HaMatzot [Unleavened Bread] and consequently always celebrate Shavuot on a Sunday.”

The quotation above is taken from the Karaite Jews:

www.karaite-korner.org/shavuot.shtml

The Karaite Jews follow the Judaism of the Sadducees. It doesn’t matter that Paul was a Pharisee; it was the Sadducees who were in control of the Temple. The explanation of the Karaites also follows the Church and the Ancient Temple system as well as the Samaritans.

Trumpets

I read the paper Trumpets (No. 136). I see that trumpets were blown at this commanded assembly. Were trumpets blown at other times as well?

A: Yes, they were. The trumpets were blown on New Moons and feasts in various forms. It is a good exercise to look up “trumpets” in Strongs and then look at when they were commanded. Also look at the papers God’s Calendar (No. 156); The Holy Days of God (No. 97) and The Moon and the New Year (No. 213).

Should the Feast of Trumpets be called the Feast of Shofar or Yom Teruah, Day of Blowing? Using The Interlinear Bible (Hebrew, Greek, English)

A: Leviticus 23:24 (Hebrew) In the month seventh, on the first of the month (2320) shall be to you a Sabbath (7677) (Sabbathown) reminder (2146) SIGNALLED (8643) a gathering (4744) holy (6944)

Leviticus 23:24 (English) In the seventh month, on the first of the month, you shall have a Sabbath, a Memorable Acclamation, a holy gathering.

Numbers 29:1(Hebrew) And in month the seventh, on the first of the month, a convocation holy shall be to you any work of service not shall you do; A DAY (yom) OF BLOWING (8643) [the trumpet] (included, but no Hebrew word or number for it) it shall be to you. 8643 Teruah (Teruwah) a type of blowing. 8643 comes from 7321, split the ear, blow an alarm, shout. Cry (alarm, aloud, out) destroy, make a joyful noise, smart, shout sound an alarm, triumph.

I am finding the use of the word Trumpet is mostly translated as Ram’s Horn in the Interlinear Bible…the shofar. Trumpets…. 2689 Shofar…7782. Is the Shofar as well as the Silver Trumpet to be blown? Is the blowing…..the sounding of the alarm to awaken us to the coming events of Atonement and Tabernacles?

A: Trumpets is a New Moon. The sound of the ram’s horn is heard by those keeping the New Moons. The Day of Trumpets is a traditional term applied to the festival. It is also a New Moon and so the double sacrifices were applied to this day and also the New Moon instruction. 3117 is prior to 8643 in Numbers 29:1 and Green translates this as “a day of blowing of the trumpets.” We say Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur but, as we are English speakers, we say Day of Atonement more often and it conveys meaning to us. The word “teruwah” means a “clamour” or “acclamation” or “battle cry” and especially of the clangour of trumpets as an alarm. The word carries with it the implicit meaning of raising an alarm as a battle sound of trumpets. The use of trumpets occurs elsewhere in Numbers.

In dealing with Trumpets we must always bear in mind that it is a double Holy Day and the New Moon activities are also carried out. Look at the papers God’s Calendar (No. 156); The New Moons (No. 125); The Holy Days of God (No. 97) and Trumpets (No. 136).

Many times I’ve heard of Trumpets or the beginning of the 7th month as being celebrated as the Jewish New Year. I am wondering if this could be true and whether the Jews have always had this for their New Year?

A: The Day of Trumpets has always been celebrated in the Temple Calendar, but it was not the New Year under the Temple system. According to the Mishnah, we see it intruding in as a New Year, beside the New Year of 1 Abib or the First Month. The festival of Rosh Hashanah, which modern Jews keep, did not enter Judaism until the Third century of the current era. Rabbi Samuel Kohn makes this comment as proof of Jewish influence on a Sabbatarian sect in Europe after the Reformation. This is contained in the work Sabbatarians in Transylvania, CCG Publishing, 1998 which is available from the CCG offices in USA and Australia.

The effect of the Hillel Calendar of 358 was calculated to enshrine the postponement system in the Jewish calendar. It effectively made the Babylonian New Year the means of determining the beginning of the year and effectively moved the New Year, and hence all the Holy Days, out by one or two days. Consequently, Judaism rarely keeps the true calendar. Look at the papers God’s Calendar (No. 156); The Moon and the New Year (No. 213) and The Calendar and the Moon: Postponements or Festivals? (No. 195).

Atonement

Since every word of God is given for a reason what is the meaning of the Day of Atonement from Leviticus 23:27 and following?

A: Atonement points toward the reconciliation of the Nation and the planet to God in Messiah. The Azazel goat, being placed in the wilderness, is the symbol of binding Satan for the millennial system. This aspect is covered in the paper Azazel and Atonement (No. 214). The High Priest firstly performs his duties in linen symbolising the priest Messiah of the First Advent. After the atonement is undertaken, the High Priest then changes into the royal garments of the High Priest symbolising the King Messiah at the return of the Messiah and in the Second Advent. Look also at the paper Atonement (No. 138).

It appears that Messiah paid the tribute tax on Atonement from this text (Ex 30:11-16). If that is correct is it because he kept the entire law, which required it to be paid even though he was to be the ransom, atonement, kaphar?

A: Yes, this was the didrachma or half shekel tax of Exodus 30:11-16. It is shown here that we are free but, so as not to cause offence and break the law before his death and atonement, the tax was collected in this way to show us that he paid it for us. This text shows we are forbidden to take up a collection on Atonement as it is an affront to the atoning sacrifice of Messiah. Only three offerings a year are authorised under the law.

Regarding Exodus 30:13 “This is what everyone who is numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a contribution to the Lord.” Does this mean the person gave a full shekel and 1/2 shekel went to maintaining the sanctuary and the other 1/2 shekel was a heave offering to the Lord?

A: No, only one half shekel was given in this tax. It was reduced to a third of a shekel under the Babylonian captivity as the shekel then was thirty gerahs according to their system of weights and measures. This tax pointed towards the Salvation of Messiah who paid our tax for us as an atoning sacrifice. That is why it is forbidden to take up a collection on Atonement in any Church. It is a census tax under ancient Israel and hence, forbidden to Judah as well and it was paid by Christ and hence forbidden to Christians as well. The early Church kept this day as we see from Acts 27:9.

No. 156

God’s Calendar

Introduction to the Jewish Calendar

God’s Calendar

The Day

Mishnah:

The Week

The Seven-Day Week

The Month

Months of the Year

Point of calculation

The biblical position

The Festivals according to Philo

The Jubilee

Addendum:

Appendix A

The place of the Equinoxes in the determination of the Feasts

Appendix B

JUBILEE

Leviticus 25:20-22

Contents

One True God:

Spiritual Creation:

Physical Creation:

The Law:

Daniel…Daniel 12:1-2;-2:43;-7:9-10;-Daniel and 3 in oven-Lion’s den

Hosea…Hosea 2:15

FAQ Old Testament

One True God

Lucifer

Angels

Nephilim

Adam and Eve

Noah

Tower of Babel

Abraham

The Law

Reading the Law

Food Laws

Tithes and Offerings

ISRAEL

Moses

Idols and Images

Joshua

Judges

Gideon

Samson

Ruth

1Samuel

1Kings

2Kings

Esther

Job

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

PROPHETS

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea

Joel

Micah

Zechariah

God’s Calendar

Jubilee

Feasts

Pentecost

Atonement