The Calendar of Christ and the Apostles © Carl D. Franklin Part I October 27, 2002 Revised: June 1, 2004 1 Table of Contents Preface 4 Introduction 24 Chapter One The Calendar of 70 AD 35 Chapter Two The Calendar of 66 AD 51 Chapter Three The Calendar of 69 AD 56 Chapter Four The Calendar of 5 BC 66 Chapter Five The Debate Over the Epochal Molad of Creation 70 Chapter Six The Calendar According to Herman L. Hoeh 82 Chapter Seven The History of the Calendar According to Frank W. Nelte 90 Chapter Eight Nelte on Nelte 96 Chapter Nine The Basic Facts of Calendar Mathematics 109 Chapter Ten Visibility and Postponements 114 Chapter Eleven 30 AD and the First Visible Crescent 119 2 Table of Contents Chapter Twelve The Impossibility of a Wednesday Passover in 31 AD 123 Chapter Thirteen New Moon, Full Moon and the 177-Day Elliptical 126 Chapter Fourteen Mathematical Spans of the Hebrew Calendar of 5 BC to 70 AD 129 Chapter Fifteen 19-Year Cycle One 18 BC to 1 AD 135 Chapter Sixteen 19-Year Cycle Two 2 AD to 20 AD 142 Chapter Seventeen 19-Year Cycle Three 21 AD to 39 AD 148 Chapter Eighteen 19-Year Cycle Four 40 AD to 58 AD 156 Chapter Nineteen 19-Year Cycle Five 59 AD to 77 AD 163 Conclusion 172 Appendix A The Rules of Postponement 174 Glossary of Terms 175 3 Preface We've all heard the expression, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it!" Applying this simple rule to the Hebrew Calendar could eliminate much confusion. Some in the churches of God today are convinced that the Hebrew Calendar is defective. They claim that its rules for calculating the feast days of God are not based on Scripture but on Jewish tradition. They are adamantly opposed to the rules of postponement (see Appendix A for complete definitions), which they view as an invention of men. In denouncing these rules, they assert that the "postponement" of the new moon of the seventh month was instituted by the Jews for political or physical convenience. Is the calculated Hebrew Calendar really "broken," as more and more are beginning to teach? How can we know the truth? If it is possible to show that it is in complete harmony with the astronomical cycles that God has ordained, and that it fulfills every Scriptural requirement for determining His appointed times, the supposed need to modify the calculated calendar will be eliminated. In order to test the validity of the existing calendar, let us examine some basic Scriptural principles that govern all determinations of time. How Are Appointed Times Determined? Very early in Scripture, God reveals the elements that He established as the perpetual basis for producing an accurate calendar of all the days in the year, including His holy days. This knowledge is conveyed in Genesis 1:14: "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." Notice that God appointed "lights," which are visible signs, to establish days and years and "seasons." This should alert us to the error in using darkness—such as midnight or the conjunction (the dark of the moon)—as a standard for determining the beginning of a day, year, or "season." The Hebrew word that is translated "seasons" in Genesis 1:14 is mo'ed (pronounced moh-gehd'), which means "appointed times." This Hebrew 4 word, first used in the Creation account in Genesis 1, is later used in Numbers 9:1-3 in reference to observing the Passover. The Hebrew word mo'ed is also used in Leviticus 23 in reference to all of God's appointed times, or "feasts," including the weekly Sabbath. These and many other Scriptural passages make it clear that the word mo'ed--which has been translated into various English expressions, such as "set time," "appointed season," or simply "season"--refers specifically to God's appointed feasts. When mo'ed is translated "seasons," as in Genesis 1:14, it does not refer to climatic seasons, such as summer, fall and winter. In fact, the four seasons--as the world views them today--are not found in the Hebrew text. The Hebrew text names only two climatic seasons--a period of warming that builds to extreme heat, and a period of cooling that follows. The warm season corresponds to what we call "spring" and "summer," and the cool season corresponds to our "autumn." (The Hebrew term for this season literally means "harvest-time.") These two climatic periods extend from the beginning of the growing season and the ripening of the first harvest of the year, through all the months of planting and harvesting that follow, until the final harvest has been gathered in and the fields have been sown for the first harvest of the new year, which begins to grow but then remains dormant during the cold months. There is no seasonal name in the Hebrew text for the cold months of the year, during which no harvesting takes place. The climatic terms that are used in the Hebrew text make it clear that the Scriptural view of the seasons is very different from the world's view. The world uses the spring and fall equinoxes* and the summer and winter solstices** to divide the year into four seasons, but the Scriptures do not. The Hebrew text does not divide the warm months of the year into spring and summer, but refers to them as a single climatic season. This season and the following climatic season--the only two that are named in the Hebrew text--extend from the first month through the seventh month of the year. These are the months of planting and harvesting--and the months during which all of God's holy days are celebrated. ______________ * The equinox is the time in the spring and fall when the sun crosses the equator, making the length of day and night equal. ** The solstice is the point at which the sun is furthest north of the equator in the summer and is furthest south of the equator in winter. 5 This Scriptural view of the seasons, which focuses on the harvest cycle, is the basis of the calculated Hebrew Calendar. Unlike the Roman Calendar of this world, which views the climatic seasons as four distinct phases in the solar cycle, the Hebrew Calendar views the climatic seasons as two distinct phases in the harvest cycle. Because the Hebrew Calendar is not based on the Roman view of the seasons, but on the Scriptural view, the calculated Hebrew Calendar places no significance in the equinoxes and solstices of the solar cycle. Although its calculations consistently place the first day of the year near the spring equinox, it does not recognize the equinox as a dividing point in time--neither between seasons nor between years. Some claim that the Hebrew Calendar is defective because it does not consider the equinoxes in its calculations. They insist that the Scriptures support the equinoxes as dividing points in the year. Because they do not understand the Scriptural view of the seasons, they interpret "at the year's end" in Exodus 34:22 as referring to the autumnal equinox. They conclude that the fall equinox MUST occur before the Feast of Tabernacles can begin. This interpretation of God's command in Exodus 34:22 is based on the Roman view of the seasons. It is clearly exposed as a false assumption by comparing Exodus 34:22 with other Scriptures that use the same Hebrew expression. When we examine Exodus 34:22 in the Hebrew text, we find that the phrase "the year's end" is translated from the expression ha shãh-nãh' t koo- phãh'. The use of this Hebrew expression in other Scriptural passages shows that it does not refer to an event in time--such as the equinox--but to a circuit or cycle of time. It is used in I Samuel to refer to Hannah's nine- month cycle of pregnancy (obviously Hannah’s pregnancy did not encompass all four days of equinox and solstice), and in Psalm 19 to refer to the circuit of the sun across the sky. In Exodus 34:22 it refers to the seven months of the annual harvest cycle. Leviticus 23:39 clearly states that the feast on the 15th day of the seventh month is to be celebrated "when you have gathered in the fruit of the land." There is no confusion regarding "the year's end" when we understand that the Scriptures divide the year by the harvest cycle--not by the equinoxes and solstices. It is the harvest in the land of Israel that determines the "year's end"--not the fall equinox. The only Scriptural basis for dividing the year is the harvest cycle in the area of Jerusalem. This cycle, which begins in the 6 first month and ends with the seventh month, is the focus of the Hebrew Calendar. The harvest cycle in the geographical region of Jerusalem sets the calendar each year for the observance of God's holy days in all parts of the world. Whether we live in the southern hemisphere or the northern hemisphere, we are to observe God's holy days according to this Scriptural standard, regardless of the date of the spring equinox or the climatic seasons in our own geographical area. A late harvest in the area of Jerusalem is often reflected by a similar climatic pattern in other regions of the world.