Transcript Wheel of Stars

Wheel
of
Stars:
The Hebrew
Solar Year
1
Introduction
For more than twenty years, I have been
researching the great and small pieces of
the original Biblical calendar.
This topic is immense, complex and
has many moving parts that cut across
Scripture, history, astronomy and other
related disciplines. That scope and the
fact that expertise on so many levels is
required to understand it explain why
answers have been so elusive until now. 2
Introduction
It was also due to this topic’s scope
that I had to tell its story in many parts,
from a full book (Wheel of Stars) to about
two dozen separate Powerpoint
presentations, including this one.
By 2013, three years after the release of
my book, I had taught on this topic enough
times to distill the original calendar into 4
simple rules.
3
Introduction
Those 4 Calendar Laws in turn led to
other specialized topics based on the
many great questions I received when
lecturing on them.
Of these laws, the most controversial
one by far was that the Hebrew month
was reckoned or counted from the Dark
Moon, from the sunset after lunar
conjunction. However, I don’t plan on
4
revisiting those particular details here.
Introduction
From that controversy came a
consistent and important question: If
the moon is dark and I can’t see it, how
do I know the month has begun?
The answer to this question has already
taken many forms in my research. I have
proven that certain mathematical
patterns and formulae were known,
based on Scripture math and always
worked to predict the NM from calculation.5
Introduction
It was not that observation was
irrelevant—far from it!—rather calculation
was a process that was needed in the
event that observation failed.
Every single Biblical formula however,
was based on math patterns or
instructions given in the Torah; many
were based on the number 50…and this
one today is no exception, the most
beautiful 50 pattern of them all!
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Introduction
And so this study today can basically be
divided into four parts…
First, we need to see the broad
requirements of the Hebrew Solar Year
as recorded directly in the Scripture.
However, the rules in Scripture as it turns
out can be carried out through a variety of
different techniques, so we need the help
of first century historians to tell us
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which method was chosen.
Introduction
Two of these first century Jewish
historians—Josephus and Philo—were
each descended from the families of
priests and kings.
Scripture also tells us that priests and
kings were the ones who kept and
administered the public and secret rules of
the original Biblical calendar (Leviticus
23:4). Therefore, showing the chosen
8
methods is our second part.
Introduction
The third part of this study then will be
combining all of these requirements
and mechanisms from Scripture and
the historical record into one overarching master system.
This system is actually what I call the
Hebrew Solar Year, so in the fourth and
final part we will use this system to
predict our Abib New Moons 50 years
in advance perfectly, every time.
9
Introduction
Also by the time this study ends, I will
demonstrate that there is only one way to
piece all the data together into that master
system.
As a result, we can actually recover the
lost system of the Hebrew Solar Year to
a historical and mathematical
certainty…for the first time since the
Temple was destroyed in 70 CE.
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Introduction
With those ideas in mind, let me preview
Part 1 with 5 broad “headlines” for how the
Hebrew Solar Year was supposed to work. I
will then give the complete documentation of
those headlines in the next section.
1) The four seasons, divided by
equinoxes and solstices, are created by
Abba YHWH to divide the solar year
(Genesis 8:22).
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Introduction
2) Turns of the year described as only
in spring or in fall, are referring to
equinoxes (Exodus 34:22, 1 Kings 20:22,
26; 2 Chronicles 24:23; 36:10). The year is
evenly divided by equinoxes rather than by
math.
3) Abba YHWH commands the year will
after Exodus run spring to spring
(Exodus 12:1-2).
12
Introduction
4) The solar year was in turn divided
into 12 equal sections, just as the period
from sunrise to sunset was divided into 12
equal parts (Genesis 37:1-11, John 11:9).
5) The year was reckoned by “fixed
stars”, what we today call “sidereal time”
by 12 stars or constellations tied to the
solar year (also Genesis 37:1-11). The
Pleiades, Orion and others announced
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the start of spring (Job 38:31-33).
Introduction
With these broad concepts in mind, I
will show how the Scripture ties these
ideas together in a larger structure that
will, in turn, be further clarified in the
historical record.
At the risk of over-repetition, our next
step is to, for the sake of clarity, to
repeat these 5 concepts again and give
fuller details on each one. We begin
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with…
The First Rule
1) The four seasons, divided by
equinoxes and solstices, are created by
Abba YHWH to divide the solar year
(Genesis 8:22).
While the earth remains, seedtime and
harvest, and cold and heat, and summer
and winter, and day and night shall not
cease. (Genesis 8:22 NAU)
These terms are understood as
follows…
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The First Rule
Seedtime = Fall Equinox, when we sow
crops for the next spring.
Harvest = (Three times):Spring Equinox,
when we begin the agricultural year with
barley (Passover), then wheat (Feast of
Weeks), then figs, pomegranates, olives
and finally grapes (Tabernacles).
Summer = June Solstice, when the sun
reaches its northernmost point in the sky.
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Linked also to “hot season”.
The First Rule
Winter = December Solstice, when the
sun reaches its southernmost point in the
sky. Also linked to “cold season”.
Day = yom in Hebrew, in this case not the
full 24 hour day, but the interval between
sunrise and sunset. Messiah Y’shua’s
comment in John 11:9 that there are 12
hours of daylight suggests that the solar
year—which Genesis 8:22 is describing—
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is also divided into 12 equal parts.
The First Rule
Night = laila in Hebrew, or the time
between sunset and sunrise. Without the
sun, ancient Hebrews divided the night
into four “watches” of about 3 hours each
(Matthew 14:25; Mark 16:48). In later
times like Daniel, the “watch” would
become the word iddan (moment/hour) or
1/3 of a night watch, from where we would
eventually get 12 hours (shaeta) of night
as well. AENT: watch = “1/4th of the night”.18
The First Rule
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The First Rule
In another sense though the full 24 hour
day-night cycle was well understood by
the ancient Hebrews.
Both the priests and Levites were divided
into 24 divisions, or courses (1 Chronicles
24 and 25), one for every hour of the solar
day. Furthermore, the Hebrew word for
“minister”—a synonym for the
priests—is the exact same word as the
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sun!
The Second Rule
2) Turns of the year described as only
in spring or in fall, are referring to
equinoxes (Exodus 34:22, 1 Kings 20:22,
26; 2 Chronicles 24:23; 36:10). The year
is evenly divided by equinoxes rather
than by math.
If we divided the solar year
mathematically, its halfway point or “turn”
would be 182.5 days from our start point.
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The Second Rule
But because the Scripture says the year
“turns” rather than “ends” at the start of
spring and fall, that means the
equinoxes mark the halfway
boundaries of the “circle of the year”.
That is why the Scripture always uses
Hebrew words for these “turns” of spring
and fall that mean “cycle, completing a
circuit, returning to a fixed point”, as we
see here…
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The Second Rule
Strong 8666 [‫ ]תְּ ׁשּובָ ה‬teshuvah n.f. return,
answer;—1. sf. 1 ‫ ּותְּ ׁשֻׁ בָ ת ֹו הָ ָרמָ תָ ה‬S 7:17 and
his return was (= he returned) to Rama. 2.
esp. cstr. ‫ הַ שָ נָה לִ תְּ ׁשּובַ ת‬at the return of the
year, i.e. of spring, 2 S 11:1, 1 K 20:22,
20:26, 2 Ch 36:10, 1 :‫לְּ עֵ ת תְּ ׁש׳‬: ‫ הַ ש׳‬Ch 20:1 (||
2 S 11:1). 3. answer, pl. abs. ‫ׁשבֹת‬
ֻׁ ְּ‫ ת‬Jb 34:36,
sf. 21:34 ‫תְּ ׁשּובֹתֵ יכֶם‬
Brown Driver Briggs
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The Second Rule
[‫ ]תְּ קּופָ ה‬n.f coming round, circuit;—cstr.
‫ תְּ קּופַ ת הַ שָ נָה‬Ex 34:22 (JE), adv., at the circuit
(completion) of the year, so 2 :‫ לִ ת׳ הַ שָ נָה‬Ch
24:33; = pl. cstr. 1 ‫ לִ תְּ קֻׁ פוֹת הַ י ִָמים‬S 1:20; sg.
sf. of finished circuit of sun Psalm 19:7 (opp.
ֹ ָ‫ ;מוֹצ‬cf. of moon, ‫ בתקופתו‬Ecclus 43:7).
‫או‬
Brown Driver Briggs
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The Second Rule
The heavens are telling of the glory of
Elohim; and their expanse is declaring the
work of His hands. Day to day pours forth
speech, and night to night reveals
knowledge. There is no speech, nor are
there words; their voice is not heard. Their
line has gone out through all the earth,
and their utterances to the end of the world.
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
which is as a bridegroom coming out 25
The Second Rule
of his chamber; it rejoices as a strong
man to run his course. Its rising is from
one end of the heavens, and its circuit
(tekuwfa) to the other end of them; and
there is nothing hidden from its heat.
(Psalm 19:1-6 NAU)
Notice the Psalm never talks about sunset,
only the sun “rising from one end of the
heavens to the other”? And the “strong
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man to run his course” = solar orbit!
The Second Rule
Also the “line that has gone out from
the ends of the earth” indicates the
earth is tethered to the sun while the
sun goes on its orbit.
And not only is the earth called a sphere
(Isaiah 40:22), the entire universe is said
to be a circle and space is curved—the
Scripture anticipating the work of Albert
Einstein by more than 3,000 years….
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The Second Rule
Thick clouds cover Him, so that He cannot
see, and He walks above the circle of
heaven.' (Job 22:14 NKJ)
In these and many other verses, the word
used for “circle” in Hebrew is choog (‫)חּוג‬.
This word is also sometimes rendered as
“vault” or “vaulted” but that amounts to the
same thing, referring to an arch design
which is itself circular. Here’s some more:
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The Second Rule
He {YHWH} has set a seal upon the stars
(Job 9:9).
7682 Seal(780b) ‫( חתֶ מֶ ת‬hœtemet) a signet
seal. The basic meaning of this root is "to
seal." Various kinds of documents were
authenticated by affixing seal impressions
from stamp or cylinder seals. The one
was stamped into clay or wax while the
other was rolled across it, leaving an
impression. –Brown Driver Briggs
The Second Rule
It looks like this—seal on the stars!
The Second Rule
And a great wonder was seen in heaven; a
woman clothed with the sun, and the
moon under her feet, and on her head a
crown of twelve stars.-Revelation
12:1(AENT)
He {YHWH} sits enthroned above the
circle of the Earth. (Isaiah 40:22)
So far then the deep (matter), the stars
and the earth have circles, but that’s far
from the whole story….
The Second Rule
[Samuel] used to go annually on circuit
(shana b’shana ve’saviv/‫ )ׁשָ נָה בְּ ׁשָ נָה וְּ סָ בַ ב‬to
Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah, and he
judged Israel in all these places.
(1 Samuel 7:16 NAU)
The word saviv literally means “to go
around in a circle”. And in addition to that
the year has two “turns”—or half circles—
given by two separate Hebrew words!
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The Second Rule
You shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that
is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and
the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the
year (tekuwfa ha shana/ ‫)תְּ קּופַ ת הַ שָ ָנָֽה‬Exodus 34:22 NAU
The two “turns of the year”, or
equinoxes/half circles are in spring and
fall. The one in fall, for Sukkot, is
mentioned above. Here is the other one, in
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spring…
The Second Rule
Then the prophet came near to the king of
Israel and said to him, "Go, strengthen
yourself and observe and see what you
have to do; for at the turn of the year
(teshuvat ha shana/‫ )תְּ ׁשּובַ ת הַ שָ נָה‬the king of
Aram will come up against you."
(1 Kings 20:22 NAU; see also: 1 Kings
20:26, 2 Chronicles 24:23; 36:10)
Here’s more circle proof…
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The Second Rule
And all the host of heaven will wear
away, and the sky will be rolled up like a
scroll; all their hosts will also wither away as
a leaf withers from the vine, or as one
withers from the fig tree. (Isaiah 34:4 NAU)
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The Second Rule
One of the words for “scroll” is megilla,
which is from a root that means “to roll up”.
But if the universe itself will be rolled
back up like a scroll, as if it were a book
to be closed and put back on the shelf,
then we must understand this: scrolls,
unlike modern books, open from and
close to a central point!
Therefore, Creation represents a kind of
“rolling out” and destruction a kind of
“rolling back”. Here’s another one… 36
The Second Rule
He has inscribed a circle on the surface
of the waters at the boundary of light and
darkness. The pillars of heaven tremble and
are amazed at His rebuke.
(Job 26:10-11)
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The Second Rule
When he fixed the heavens firm, I was
there, when he drew a circle on the
surface of the deep, when he thickened
the clouds above, when the sources of the
deep began to swell, when he assigned the
sea its boundaries -- and the waters will not
encroach on the shore -- when he traced
the foundations of the earth, I was beside
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The Second Rule
the master craftsman, delighting him day
after day, ever at play in his presence, at
play everywhere on his earth, delighting to
be with the children of men.
(Proverbs 8:27-31)
So it is beyond dispute that the heavens—
the visible Universe with all its stars,
planets and galaxies—is accurately called
a circle. Later on we will see Scriptural
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proof on how to divide that circle.
Intermission…
The Third Rule
3) Abba YHWH commands the year will
run spring to spring after the Exodus.
Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt,
'This month must be the first of all the
months for you, the first month of your
year. (Exodus 12:1-2 NJB)
In order for this lunar month (Abib) to be at
the right time of year for the barley and
Pesach, it must belong to the correct solar
cycle, or season, as shown by this word…41
The Third Rule
This word eth (‫ )עת‬means “season” and
is often a synonym for moedim or
appointed times/feasts that must coincide
with those seasons, such as here…
Therefore, I will take back My grain at
harvest time and My new wine in its
season ( ‫ֹׁשי בְּ ָֽמ ֹועֲד ֹו וְּ הִ צַ לְּ תִ י‬
ִ ‫)בְּ עִ ת ֹו וְּ תִ ירו‬. I will
also take away My wool and My flax given to
cover her nakedness. And then I will
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The Third Rule
uncover her lewdness in the sight of her
lovers, and no one will rescue her out of My
hand. (Hosea 2:9-10 NAU)
In addition, eth actually refers to the
seasons themselves—directly—which the
moedim technically must be attached to in
order to be relevant. In other words, you
cannot have Pesach without barley,
Sukkot without grapes, etc. Let’s see…
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The Third Rule
If you walk in My statutes and keep My
commandments so as to carry them out,
then I shall give you rains in their season
( ‫)בְּ עִ תָ ם‬, so that the land will yield its
produce and the trees of the field will
bear their fruit. (Leviticus 26:3-4 NAU)
Eth clearly means the agricultural year,
and this is far from the only example I
have to share with you…
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The Third Rule
He will give the rain for your land in its
season ( ‫ַארצְּ כֶם בְּ עִ ת ֹו‬
ְּ -‫) ְּמ ָֽ ַטר‬, the early and late
rain, that you may gather in your grain
and your new wine and your oil.
(Deuteronomy 11:14 NAU)
They all wait for You To give them their food
in due season ( ‫)לָתֵ ת ָאכְּ לָם בְּ עִ ָֽת ֹו‬.
(Psalm 104:27 NAU)
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The Third Rule
Therefore, since the stars bring in the eth
per Job 38:32…
…and the eth are either synonyms for the
moedim or the structure to which the
moedim are inextricably attached to the
eth in which they occur (i.e. you can’t have
Pesach in summer, etc.)…
…it must be the case then that the stars
bring in the eth and the moedim!
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The Fourth Rule
4) The solar year was in turn divided into
12 equal sections, just as the period from
sunrise to sunset was divided into 12 parts.
(Genesis 37:1-11, John 11:9).
This is what I sometimes call “the Joseph
Principle” since that patriarch was the
author. Joseph has two visions at age
17, showing the heavens and the
agricultural year are inextricably
47
linked…
The Fourth Rule
Now Joseph had a dream, and he repeated
it to his brothers, who then hated him more
than ever. 'Listen', he said, 'to the dream I
had. We were binding sheaves in the field,
when my sheaf suddenly rose and stood
upright, and then your sheaves gathered
round and bowed to my sheaf.‘
(Genesis 37:5-7-NJB)
The timing of the dream is late spring,
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towards the wheat harvest.
The Fourth Rule
In a later time, Moshe will memorialize
these harvests as Passover for barley and
the Feast of Weeks for wheat.
But this dream of Joseph’s is far more
than just an innocent harvest scene, as
his brothers and parents knew…
'So you want to be king over us,' his
brothers retorted, 'you want to lord it over
us?' And they hated him even more.
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(Genesis 37:8-NJB)
The Fourth Rule
But this subsequent and inter-related
second dream was truly an amazing vision
filled with advanced astronomy!
Before showing this part, please bear in
mind that the dreams Joseph
interprets always come in related pairs
that support the same events.
 The dreams about the baker and the
cupbearer said each would be released in
3 days, one to life and the other to death. 50
The Fourth Rule
Two years later, Joseph foretold
Pharaoh’s “separate dreams” of seven
strong stalks followed by seven weak
stalks and seven fat cows followed by
seven starving cows and said…
Pharaoh's dreams are one and the same:
Elohim has confirmed to Pharaoh what
he is going to do. (Genesis 41:25 Matara)
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The Fourth Rule
Therefore these two dreams must also
be linked by common theme and
purpose.
First, the sheaves that are being bound set
the general time of year, and then the
confirming dream will show how the times
behind those seasons are counted.
Let’s see this fact clearly as we continue
with the story…
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The Fourth Rule
He had another dream which he recounted
to his brothers. 'Look, I have had another
dream,' he said. 'There were the sun, the
moon and 11 stars, bowing down to me.
He told his father and brothers, and his
father scolded him. 'A fine dream to
have!' he said to him. 'Are all of us then,
myself, your mother and your brothers,
to come and bow to the ground before
you?’ (Genesis 37:9-10 NJB)
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The Fourth Rule
The astronomical message could not be
clearer. Although Jacob’s favorite wife
Rachel had died before this time, giving birth
to the last son, Benjamin (Genesis 35),
Jacob says “your mother” which includes
her. So the 11 stars are Joseph’s 11 other
brothers, the sun is Jacob and the moon is
Rachel. Joseph must also have a star,
completing the 12 star division of the
heavenly circle!
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The Fourth Rule
Next, we see this same pattern with
Joshua…
As regards those twelve stones, which
they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set
them up at Gilgal. (Joshua 4:20 NJB)
YHWH then said to Joshua, “Today I have
rolled away the shame of Egypt from you,
and so the place has been called Gilgal
ever since.” (Joshua 5:9-Matara)
55
The Fourth Rule
The place called “Gilgal” literally
means “sacred stone circle” and it was
at that place Joshua set up exactly that
kind of structure.
When he does this and one other
command, Abba YHWH responds by
literally rolling away the disgrace of
Egypt, so obviously He approved. Here is
the other command to cut in a circle…
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The Fourth Rule
At this time Yahweh said to Joshua,
'Make flint knives and circumcise the
Israelites again (a second time). Joshua
made flint knives and circumcised the
Israelites on the Hill of Foreskins. The
reason why Joshua circumcised them was
this. All the males of the people who had
come out of Egypt of age to bear arms had
died in the desert on their journey after
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The Fourth Rule
leaving Egypt. Now, all the people who
came out had been circumcised; but none
of those born in the desert, during the
journey, after leaving Egypt, had been
circumcised; for the Israelites walked the
desert for forty years, until the whole nation
had died out, that is, the men who had come
out of Egypt of age to bear arms; they had
not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, and
Yahweh had sworn to them never
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The Fourth Rule
to let them see the land which he had sworn
to their ancestors that he would give us, a
land flowing with milk and honey. But in
place of these he set their sons, and
these were the ones whom Joshua
circumcised: they were uncircumcised
because they had not been circumcised
during the journey. When the circumcising
of the whole nation was finished, they
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The Fourth Rule
stayed resting in the camp till they were well
again. (Joshua 5:2-8 NJB)
Like Abraham, Joshua had Israel enter
into the covenant circle of life through
incising a circle in their flesh.
And like Moses, Joshua also built a
stone circle-clock comprised of 12
stones, one for each tribe of Israel
(Exodus 28:21; 39:14)! And speaking of
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circumcision…
The Fourth Rule
And you shall be circumcised in the flesh
of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign
of the covenant between Me and you. And
every male among you who is 8 days old
shall be circumcised throughout your
generations. (Genesis 17:9-12)
Once again we see a circle
(circumcision) which is divided by 12
(tribes of Israel). In fact, the reason there
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are 12 tribes is to mirror the heavens!
The Fourth Rule
And here’s one final reminder from before…
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The Fifth Rule
5) The year was then reckoned by “fixed
stars” in what we call “sidereal time” by 12
stars or constellations that were tied to the
solar year (also Genesis 37:1-11). The
Pleiades, Orion and other stars were
used to call the start of spring (Job 38:3133).
Let’s see the Scripture data up close…
63
The Fifth Rule
Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
Or loose the belt of Orion? Can you bring
out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you
guide the Great Bear with its cubs? Do you
know the ordinances of the heavens? Can
you set their dominion over the earth?
(Job 38:31-33 NKJ)
Mazzaroth is a very rare Hebrew word
that actually has its origins in ancient
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Babylonian Aramaic…
The Fifth Rule
The stars, their images, as the stars of the
zodiac he fixed. He ordained the year, and
into sections (mizrata) he divided it. For
the twelve months he fixed three stars.Babylonian Creation Epic, Tablet #5
(International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
Therefore, the mazzaroth are the 12
“sections” the sun passes through on its
annual journey—the Zodiac—and these
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are also referred to here…
The Fifth Rule
He has made the Bear and Orion, the
Pleiades and the Mansions of the South.
(Job 9:9 NJB)
The Great Bear (Ursa Major), Orion and
Pleiades constellations are all critical in
marking the seasons and they will be
described doing just that.
The “Mansions of the South” or
“chambers” are defined this way…
66
The Fifth Rule
Yet again when Job 9:9 is compared with
Job 38:31,32, it is seen that the place of the
word mazzaroth in the latter passage is held
by the expression "the chambers of the
south" (chadhre theman) in the earlier.
Mazzaroth therefore is equivalent to "the
chambers of the south," and clearly
signifies the twelve constellations of the
zodiac through which the sun appears to
67
The Fifth Rule
pass in the course of the year, poetically
likened to the "inns," the "chambers" or
"tabernacles” in which the sun
successively rests during the several
monthly stages of his annual journey.International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,
“Astronomy” section
Now remember the words of Psalm 19:4-6…
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The Fifth Rule
In them He has set a tabernacle for the
sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out
of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong
man to run its race. Its rising is from one
end of heaven, and its circuit to the other
end; and there is nothing hidden from its
heat.
(Psalm 19:4-6 NKJ)
69
The Fifth Rule
But there is also another ancient version of
Job 38:31-32—and it is in Aramaic—and it
has a very interesting understanding apart
from the Hebrew…
Can you stop the movement of the Pleiades
or have you seen the path of Orion? Can
you bring forth the Mazzaroth in its season
or stand in the paths of Aldebaran?
(George Lamsa translation of the Aramaic
70
OT/Peshitta Tanakh)
The Fifth Rule
So what exactly are the “paths of
Aldebaran”?
Put simply, Aldebaran means “the
follower” in Arabic, and one of its “paths” is
to follow the Pleiades.
When the Pleiades sets in the afternoon
and is no longer visible at night, spring is
near. Aldebaran then follows the
Pleiades, and will also disappear at
71
night right before spring!
The Fifth Rule
But Aramaic Job actually says paths of
Aldebaran, so what is the other path?
The clue is with the phrase, “can you
stand in the paths of Aldebaran”?
This is because Aldebaran is one of two
stars that are super bright and nearly
opposite from one another in the night sky.
If you “connect the dots” it literally
draws a straight line, or a PATH, and if
you could stand there, you could walk it. 72
The Fifth Rule
The straight line that starts getting drawn
from Aldebaran in the constellation of
Taurus, terminates at the exact opposite
end with the super bright star Antares in
the constellation of Scorpio.
That line will literally divide the sky in
north-south halves. Imagine cutting an
apple horizontally (east-west) but the
halves split top to bottom (north-south). It
looks like this…
73
The Fifth Rule
74
The Fifth Rule
Next we should see that the Scripture is
well familiar with what we call “circumpolar
stars”, (a.k.a. “pole stars”) or stars that
appear not to set and have other
constellations shift around them.
These “pole stars” are kind of like
milestone markers on a map and are
extremely important for navigating the
heavens with the naked eye. They are
75
mentioned here…
The Fifth Rule
For you have said in your heart: `I will
ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God; I will also sit on the
mount of the congregation On the farthest
sides of the north; I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most
High. ‘Yet you shall be brought down to
Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.
(Isaiah 14:13-15 NKJ)
76
The Fifth Rule
“the farthest sides of the north” =
extremely close to the North Pole, is
exactly where these Pole Stars are
located.
And these are the “stars of Elohim” which
are called “distant, high” here…
Is not God in the height of heaven? and
behold the height of the stars, how high they
are! {height of the stars: Heb. head of the
77
stars} (Job 22:12 KJV)
The Fifth Rule
So the “highest”, and “northernmost” and
“head of the stars” are all extremely
accurate astronomical descriptions of
these pole stars, and one other critical
detail about them is given here…
Though you soar like an eagle, though you
set your nest among the stars, I shall
bring you down from there!-declares
Yahweh. (Obadiah 1:4 NJB)
78
The Fifth Rule
If we imagine that stars are like birds
and have a nest, then once the “birds”
are put in that nest, they never drop, or
set, another accurate description of the
pole stars!
So just as Aldebaran and Antares divided
the sky in half, any pole star we choose to
use will now cut the sky in half again---into
quarters—as we draw a line from the pole
star to the horizon, which looks like this… 79
The Fifth Rule
To Antares
Imaginary “ring”
from Aldebaran
to Antares
divides sky in
“halves”
North
Pole
Stars near the
pole never set
Imaginary line
from Pole to
South horizon
divides sky in
“quarters”
To Albebaran
The Fifth Rule
The constellations, in ancient times, the March (Vernal) Equinox
was revealed by Aldebaran, and the September (Autumnal)
Equinox revealed by Antares!
Antares
(To Pole
star)
Aldebaran
The Fifth Rule
From this point, skilled observers would
notice that roughly three lunar or solar
cycles align with each “quarter” of sky, or
“season”, again dividing that sky ultimately
into a circle with 12 equal parts of 30
degrees each (30 x 12 = 360).
As a result, Job gives us a complete
astronomical system for accurately
calculating the solar year according to the
82
stars. It looks like this…
The Fifth Rule
(Here, the constellations
are shown in modern
times. But the observed
conditions today are the
same as in ancient times
– only the constellation
marking the equinoxes
and solstices have
changed. Refer back to
slide 81.)
3 months
3 months
3 months
3 months
83
The Fifth Rule
And all that star data leads to this…
84
Intermission…
The Historians Speak
So at this point, we have delved deep into
the 5 Rules directly drawn from Scripture,
but this is only part of the story.
Reason being, these rules can be
achieved through a variety of methods
in many cases, so we need to hear from
the witnesses to tell which method was
used by the Hebrew astronomerpriests.
86
The Historians Speak
So now we are going to see these 5 Rules
one more time, but this time I will follow
them up with explanatory quotes from
Josephus and/or Philo. When we are
finished, we will have two sets of data:
Scriptural and historical.
Our task will then be to show the one
and only Master Method that works with
all the data in place—the one, true, lost
system of the Hebrew astronomer priests!87
The Historians Speak
1) The four seasons, divided by
equinoxes and solstices, are created by
Abba YHWH to divide the solar year
(Genesis 8:22).
On the 4th day he adorned the heaven with
the sun, the moon, and the other stars; and
appointed them their motions and
courses, that the changes of the seasons
might be clearly signified. (Josephus,
88
Antiquities,1:31)
The Historians Speak
Moses puts down the beginning of the
vernal equinox as the first month of the
year, attributing the chief honor, not as
some persons do to the periodical
revolutions of the year in regard of time, but
rather to the graces and beauties of nature
which it has caused to shine upon men; for it
is through the bounty of nature that the
seeds which are sown to produce the
89
The Historians Speak
necessary food of mankind are brought to
perfection. And the fruit of trees in their
prime, which is second in importance only to
the necessary crops, is engendered by the
same power, and as being second in
importance it also ripens late; for we always
find in nature that those things which are not
very necessary are second to those which
are indispensable. (Philo, On Moses, 2:222)
90
The Historians Speak
2) Turns of the year described as only in
spring or in fall, are referring to
equinoxes (Exodus 34:22, 1 Kings 20:22,
26; 2 Chronicles 24:23; 36:10). The year is
evenly divided by equinoxes rather than by
math.
From the spring equinox to the summer
solstice, day receives an addition to its
length, and night, on the other hand,
submits to a diminution; until the longest91
The Historians Speak
day and the shortest night are both
completed. And then after the summer
solstice the sun, turning back again the
same road, neither more quickly nor
more slowly than he advanced, but
always preserving the same difference in
the same manner, having a constantly
equal arrangement, proceeds on till the
autumnal equinox; and then, having
92
The Historians Speak
made day and night both equal, it begins
to increase the length of the night,
diminishing the day until the time of the
winter solstice. And when it has made
the night the longest night, and the day
the shortest day, then returning back
again and adopting the same distances
as before, he again comes to the spring
equinox. Thus the differences of time which
appear to be unequal, do in reality possess93
The Historians Speak
a perfect equality in respect of magnitude,
not indeed at the same seasons, but at
different seasons of the year.
(Philo, Who is The Heir of Divine Things,
1:149-150)
94
The Historians Speak
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 7. For each of the
equinoxes takes place in the 7th month, at
which time men are expressly
commanded by law to celebrate the 95
The Historians Speak
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. (Philo, On Creation, 1:116) 96
The Historians Speak
3) Abba YHWH commands the year will
after Exodus run spring to spring (Exodus
12:1-2).
In the month of Xanthikos, which is by us
called Nisan, and is the beginning of our
year, on the fourteenth day of the lunar
month, when the sun is in Aries, (for in
this month it was that we were delivered
from bondage under the
97
The Historians Speak
Egyptians,) the law ordained that we should
every year slay that sacrifice which I before
told you we slew when we came out of
Egypt, and which was called the Passover;
and so we do celebrate this Passover in
companies, leaving nothing of what we
sacrifice till the day following.
(Josephus, Antiquities, 3:248)
98
The Historians Speak
Now there are 10 festivals in number, as
the law sets them down. The 1st is that
which any one will perhaps be astonished to
hear called a festival. This festival is every
day. The 2nd festival is the seventh day,
which the Hebrews in their native language
call the Sabbath. The 3rd is that which
comes after the conjunction, which happens
on the day of the new moon in each month.
The 4th is that of the Passover which is 99
The Historians Speak
called the pascha. The 5th is the first fruits of
the corn -- the sacred sheaf. The 6th is the
feast of unleavened bread, after which that
festival is celebrated, which is really the 7th
day of 7th days. The 8th is the festival of the
sacred moon, or the feast of trumpets. The
9th is the fast. The 10th is the feast of
tabernacles, which is the last of all the
annual festivals.
100
(Philo, The Special Laws, 2:41)
The Historians Speak
4) The solar year was in turn divided into
12 equal sections, just as the period from
sunrise to sunset was divided into 12 parts.
(Genesis 37:1-11, John 11:9).
And for the 12 stones, whether we
understand by them the months, or whether
we understand the like number of the
signs of that circle which the Greeks call
the Zodiac, we shall not be mistaken in their
meaning. (Josephus, Antiquities, 3:186) 101
The Historians Speak
Now, the 7 lamps signified the 7 planets; for
so many there were springing out of the
lampstand. Now, the 12 loaves that were
upon the table signified the circle of the
zodiac and the year.
(Josephus, The Jewish War, 5:217)
“[Joseph] saw then," says the scripture, "a
second dream, and he related it to his
father, and to his brethren, and he said, I
saw that the sun, and the moon, and the 102
The Historians Speak
11 stars worshipped me. And his father
rebuked him, and said, What is this dream
that thou hast dreamed? Shall I, and thy
mother, and thy brethren, come forward and
advance, and fall down to the earth and
worship thee? And his brethren were jealous
of him; but his father regarded his words."
[Genesis xxxvii. 9.] The studiers of
sublime wisdom now say that the zodiac,
the greatest of all the circles in heaven, is
103
The Historians Speak
studded with 12 animals ('zodia'), from
which it has derived its name. And that the
sun and the moon are always revolving
around it, and go through each of the
animals, not indeed with equal rapidity, but
in unequal numbers and periods; the one
doing so in thirty days, and the other in as
near as may be a twelfth part of that time,
that is in two days and a half; therefore, he
who saw this heaven-sent vision, thought 104
The Historians Speak
that he was being worshipped by 11 stars,
ranking himself among them as the 12th,
so as to complete the whole circle of the
zodiac.
(Philo, On Dreams, 2:111-113)
Then on his chest there are 12 precious
stones…being fashioned so as an emblem
of the zodiac. For the zodiac also consists
of 12 animals, and so divides the 4
seasons. (Philo, The Special Laws, 1:87)105
The Historians Speak
5) The year was then reckoned by
“fixed stars” in what we call “sidereal
time” by 12 stars or constellations that
were tied to the solar year (also Genesis
37:1-11). The Pleiades, Orion and other
stars were used to call the start of
spring (Job 38:31-33).
And besides the stars above mentioned
the band of the Pleiades is also made up
of 7 stars, the rising and occultation 106
The Historians Speak
of which are the causes of great benefits
to all men. For when they set, the furrows
are ploughed up for the purpose of
sowing; and when they are about to rise,
they bring glad tidings of harvest; and
after they have arisen, they awaken the
rejoicing husbandman to the collection of
their necessary food. And they with joy store
up their food for their daily use.
107
(Philo, On Creation, 1:115)
The Historians Speak
And when he had burnt the country, he
besieged Hyrcanus in the city, which he
surrounded with seven encampments; but
did just nothing at the first, because of the
strength of the walls, and because of the
valor of the besieged, although they were
once in want of water which yet they were
delivered from by a large shower of rain,
which fell at the setting of the Pleiades.
(Josephus, Antiquities, 13:237)
108
The Historians Speak
The constellation Orion also is a major
factor in accurately predicting the time of
spring. Specifically, the brightest star,
following Orion, “Sirius”, was
absolutely critical in this process.
Sirius is in a totally unique situation to any
other stars ancient astronomers would
have used.
To begin with, other than our sun, Sirius is
109
the brightest star in the night sky.
The Historians Speak
Sirius is also both very large and very
close to our position on earth, so it is
nearly impossible to miss it.
Sirius alone rises the same day every
year because it’s natural motion is so
great, that it pulls in the opposite
direction of normal “precession”,
which is the natural drift of stars by 1
degree every 72 years.
110
The Historians Speak
Imagine you are an ancient astronomer.
With most other stars, if you observed their
position in the sky and carefully marked it
down as “X degrees”—before the next
century was done your son or grandson
would mark that same star’s position as “X +
1 degree”. Not true of Sirius—precession
pulls it one way and the star’s motion in
the opposite direction “compensated” so
it would not appear to drift.
111
The Historians Speak
As a result, Sirius will return exactly to
same part of the sky at exactly the solar
anniversary date from when it last was
there.
This is why the ancient Egyptians used
this star to regulate their calendar---a
calendar a certain Prince of Egypt named
Moshe was very familiar with. However,
Moshe was not going to use that star the
112
exact same way the Egyptians did…
The Historians Speak
The reason was a combination of Torah
commands he himself wrote down as well
as for practical considerations.
Leviticus 18:3 specifically warned of not
following the practices of the
Egyptians…but this was probably more
about the illicit sex they did, which was the
focus of the entire 18th chapter. On the
other hand, stars generally were
113
commanded to bring in the seasons.
The Historians Speak
And so, even if Moshe was concerned that
he would be using the same star as his
adopted homeland, other considerations
would weigh heavily on his decision to
use Sirius in a different way from the
Egyptians.
For one thing, the Egyptians began their
day at sunrise while the Hebrews did their
day starting at sunset.
114
The Historians Speak
Another issue was the Egyptian year
began at summer solstice—when Sirius
returned after 70 days of not being visible.
The 19th century astronomer J. Norman
Lockyer estimated that going solstice to
solstice, the Egyptians had calculated the
actual length of the solar year to within a
minute of our modern estimates. I believe
Moshe wanted to tweak Sirius to point to
spring, his new calendar start.
115
The Historians Speak
Philo also says Sirius accurately pointed to
the other “Hebrew New Year” in fall…
For there is a terrestrial barking animal
called a dog…there is also the star in
heaven, which the poets calls the
autumnal star, because it rises at the
beginning of autumn, for the sake of
ripening the fruits and bringing them to
perfection. (Philo, On Noah’s Work as a
116
Planter,1:151)
The Historians Speak
Exactly how Sirius will be employed by
Moshe to point to spring is a topic for later.
Right now, we need to look at the third and
final constellation mentioned in Job 38—the
Great Bear, or Ursa Major—and see how it
also helped “bring in the seasons”. Here is
how a professional astronomer’s website
explained Ursa Major, from
http://www.astronomytrek.com/step-6interesting-facts-about-ursa-major-1/ 117
The Historians Speak
In the Northern hemisphere Ursa Major
never sets below the horizon, and is visible
the whole year round. It is also circumpolar
in the UK and Northern USA and is seen to
complete a whole counterclockwise rotation
every 24 hours around the ‘North Star’
(Polaris) located in neighboring Ursa Minor.
This motion has been used as an
excellent star clock throughout history.
Polaris is located very close to the north 118
The Historians Speak
celestial pole and has also been extremely
useful as a directional compass, as well as
determining location. The North Star is
always elevated as many degrees above the
horizon as the observer is north of the
equator…Polaris (The North Star) is located
in the constellation of Ursa Minor and can be
used to either measure time, or tell the time
within 30 minutes of accuracy. Polaris lies
just opposite The Plough (Big Dipper) in the119
The Historians Speak
constellation of Ursa Major with a line drawn
from the pointer stars (Dubhe and Merak) in
the Big Dipper and five times their distance
from each other then leading to Polaris. It is
located 434 light-years from Earth and is a
yellow supergiant 2,500 times brighter than
our Sun. Ursa Major along with
neighboring Cassiopeia never set below the
horizon and completes a whole counterclockwise (east to west) rotation around 120
The Historians Speak
Polaris every 24 hours. Therefore, pointer
star Merak for example, would revolve all
the way around Polaris and return to its
original place within a 24 hour period. Now
imagine Polaris as the center of a celestial
24 hour clock (24 separate hours) and a line
drawn from Polaris to Merak as an hour
hand with each 15 degree rotation by Merak
equaling 1 hour of time passing (360
degrees/24hrs). When, say, four hours 121
The Historians Speak
have elapsed draw a new hour line running
60 degrees counter-clockwise from your
original hour hand and note where it would
intercept the horizon. When the line
eventually reaches that point four hours
have elapsed.
So using Ursa Major, the ancient
Hebrews had a very accurate clock to
help them confirm the hours of the day,
along with tracking the path of the sun. 122
The Historians Speak
These observations, combined with those
of the Pleiades and Sirius/Orion, allowed
for extremely precise observational
astronomy to correlate star, sun and moon
cycles.
And while the Hebrew name—Ayish—
does not mean anything close to “Great
Bear”, there can be no doubt the
Hebrews were aware the nations
around them called Ayish Great Bear. 123
The Historians Speak
That being the case, is it a coincidence that
bears stop hibernating exactly as spring
starts…another clue for the season? I don’t
think so!
124
Intermission…
The Master Method
We now enter our third part of this study,
to combine all the details from Scripture
and history, as we mentioned before…
Once done, I will show how the
Hebrews used their solar calendar to
accurately predict New Moons 50 years
in advance.
From there, every lunar cycle within that
50 solar year period can also be
126
predicted with perfect accuracy!
The Master Method
We begin by looking at a circle of time…
Each
Slice
=
30
degrees
Each
Slice
=
30.44
days
127
The Master Method
So as we saw, Philo and Scripture tell us
that the solar year is not divided by an
equal number of days but by the “turns” or
equinoxes which represent half-way points
of the sun’s journey.
Therefore, to represent the solar year as a
circle means that each 1/12th slice is 30
degrees and each 1/12th of time is 30.44
solar days (30 days, 10 hours, 29 minutes
128
and 3 ¾ seconds).
The Master Method
Like the lunar month, the solar month of
30.44 days is not a whole number, but
one with a decimal remainder.
And also like the lunar month, we need to
use whole days to represent those months
throughout the year, but instead of
having 30 and 29 day lunar months we
have 30 and 31 day solar months.
However, while we would typically
alternate 29 and 30 days for the moon…. 129
The Master Method
…we would not do this for the solar year.
Reason being, we also saw earlier how
the requirement is that each equinox
month counts as “seventh” and has a
Great Feast attached to it.
In other words, you start your lunar
year with the 1st day of Abib and 2
weeks later you have Passover. But the
solar year is also set because Abib 1
130
NM was nearest the start of spring!
The Master Method
But since the equinoxes are the halfway
points where the solar year “turns”, that
means the fall equinox must hit on the
1st day of the 7th solar month. You
complete 6 months and get to an equinox,
and then you complete another 6 months
and get to the other equinox as Philo said.
From spring to fall then it is exactly 187
days and from fall to spring it is 178
days, so the months should reflect that. 131
The Master Method
There is then only one way to arrange the
months so they come out in this manner.
First from the start of spring (call it March
21st), count 6 consecutive 31 day (solar)
months, for a total of 186 days. The
very next day, day 1 of month 7, will be
the day of the fall equinox!
Starting then with day 1/month 7, count 5
more 30 day solar months in a row, for
a total of 150 days: 11 months are done.132
The Master Method
The 12th and final month is the one we
adjust to align with the year according
to the fixed stars (sidereal time). It can
be either 29 or 30 days long.
Basically when the 28th day ends at
sunset, one of the next two sunsets
could be marked as the new solar year,
also known as the first day of spring
(again, say March 21st on our calendar
133
approximately).
The Master Method
The astronomer priests will look at sunset
on the 29th day of solar month 12 (not
lunar months like Tishri or Abib) and see if
the Pleiades is still hanging low on the
horizon or not.
If it is, then spring has not happened
yet, and we automatically add the 30th
day and declare that next sunset the
time of equinox. If the Pleiades is not
there, then another procedure is triggered.134
The Master Method
The astronomer priests will then look for
the “paths of Aldebaran” and see where it
falls in relation to the horizon at sunset.
This is completely consistent with Torah
rules—Abba YHWH does not want us to
“follow/bow down” to stars (Deuteronomy
4:19), so all His cycles are in darkness,
when sun, moon and stars have gotten
out of the way.
135
The Master Method
If Aldebaran has disappeared, they should
also see the super bright star Spica rising on
the other side of the heavens, and these
three signs together absolutely prove
that spring has started, and we would not
therefore add a 30th day but call sunset
on the 29th night/12th month New Year’s
Day. As a result, this method will allow
perfect alignment with the sun and stars
each year!
136
The Master Method
Let’s look at that circle again…
Calendar balances
perfectly by the return of
the sun to 0 point (Spring
Equinox) and fixed by the
stars (sidereal)
12th month is 29 days
if Pleiades/Aldebaran
are not seen the
night Spica rises;
otherwise it’s 30
days
Solar Months 7, 8, 9,
10, and 11 are all 30
days long
Solar Months 1, 2, 3, 4,
5 and 6, are all 31 days
long. Spring Equinox
starts Month 1
Spring to Fall, 187 days
Fall to Spring, 178 days
137
The Master Method
However, as good as this ancient method
with Pleiades and Aldebaran was,
reckoning by Orion/Sirius was even
better, and this fact could not have
been lost upon Moshe, again because
the Egyptians centered their astronomy
around this unique star.
After the Egyptians noted the rising of
Sirius just before dawn on summer
138
solstice..
The Master Method
…Sirius would continue to dominate the
night sky throughout summer and well into
fall, as Philo also observed. Such is also
borne out in modern research as we see
here…
“However, fortuitously, Sirius’ position in the
sky is such that the Julian date of the
heliacal rise does not change much over the
entire range of Egyptian history, up until
139
around the birth of Christ.”
The Master Method
Bradley E. Schaefer (Yale University), The
Heliacal Rise of Sirius and Ancient Egyptian
Chronology, JHA xxxi (2000), p. 152.
Copyright Science History Publications, Ltd.
Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data
System.
The range that Dr. Schaefer gives is from
about 3100 to 5 BCE, and the words of
Philo may extend this even a bit further for
Sirius’ amazing reliability and durability. 140
The Master Method
So this is how Sirius helped establish the
timing of spring…
1) Sirius returned from solar conjunction at
the time of summer solstice.
2) Then it would have been dominating the
night sky throughout summer, help call the
start of fall (again, according to Philo) and
continue to be seen well past the start of
the fall.
141
The Master Method
3) But while the Egyptians tracked the
return of Sirius just before sunrise, the
Hebrews were more concerned with the
disappearance of stars near sunset—the
start of their day. With the solar grid of
their calendar determined by 31 and 30
day months, this gives a certain day of
Sirius’ setting near sundown.
142
The Master Method
4) In our Gregorian calendar, the heliacal
setting of Sirius happens about November
9th—but whatever that Gregorian day is
it is also fixed to 102 days before
Vernal Equinox!
5) Using the solar grid system then, the
Hebrews would have seen the day Sirius
set according to a fixed pattern. For 3
years, Sirius would set say on “Day X” and
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then the 4th year set on “Day X +1”.
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6) Then the 4 year cycle would repeat
back to 3 years of “Day X” and a 4th year
of “Day X +1”—over and over again for
thousands of years!
7) That pattern is part of the “Sothic Cycle”
used throughout the entire length and
breadth of Egyptian history, the most
reliable and stable way to use the stars
to track the years known to exist!
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8) Therefore the double check or
backup system was this: Look at Day
29, Month 12 and see if it coincides
with the fixed number of days after the
setting of Sirius.
9) If it does, that sunset begins the
Hebrew Solar Year/Vernal Equinox day. If
it doesn’t, adding that 30th day will most
certainly produce the right sunset/start of
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spring every year!
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So these are the Hebrew Solar Months
correlated approximately to our current
Gregorian calendar…
Month 1Mar 21st to Apr 20th (31 days)
Month 2Apr 21st to May 21st (31 days)
Month 3May 22nd to Jun 21st (31 days)
Month 4Jun 22nd to Jul 22nd (31 days)
Month 5Jul 23rd to Aug 22nd (31 days)
Month 6Aug 23rd to Sep 22nd (31 days)
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Month 1 starts at Vernal Equinox and Month
7 starts at Fall Equinox…
Month 7Sep 23rd to Oct 22nd (30 days)
Month 8Oct 23rd to Nov 21st (30 days)
Month 9Nov 22nd to Dec 21st (30 days)
Month10Dec 22nd to Jan 21st (30 days)
Month11Jan 22nd to Feb 20th (30 days)
Month12Feb 21st to Mar 20th (29/30 days)
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Once the Hebrew day for the start of spring
was called, the astronomer-priests could
begin to correlate the solar and lunar cycles
into predictable mathematical patterns. They
would have had to, by necessity,
recorded that day in both lunar (e.g. 10
Abib) and solar (Day 1, Month 1) terms.
Similar references have been found among
the Dead Sea Scrolls, from Zadokite and
Essene groups…
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On the 5th day of the (solar) month, 12
fourteenths of the moon’s surface was
covered and thus it enters the day. On the
6th day, 13 fourteenths of the moon are
covered and thus it enters the day. On the
7th day of it, 14 fourteenths of its surface is
covered and thus it enters the day.- 4Q317,
The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English,
p. 360.
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On the 4th day of the week of the sons of
Gamul in the first month of the first year. On
the 5th day in the week of Jedaiah
corresponding to the 29th day of the lunar
month, which falls on the 30th day of the
solar month.
Mishmarot A (4Q320), as translated by
Geza Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea
Scrolls in English, p. 336
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IV…and on 13 and 14 Pisces; and on 15
and 16 Aries; on 17 and 18 Taurus; on 19
and 20 and 21 Gemini; on 22 and 23
Cancer; on 24 and 25 Leo; on 26, 27 and 28
Virgo; on 29 and 30 Libra…Tishri. On 1 and
2 Scorpio…4Q318, The Complete Dead Sea
Scrolls in English, p. 361
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The completeness and beauty of the
imagery (in Job 38) will now be apparent.
The Pleiades stood for the East, since by
their rising just before daybreak, they
heralded the morning of the year and the
"delights" of springtime. Orion stood for the
West, since his appearing just after nightfall
heralded the evening of the year, and the
bands of winter cold. Mazzaroth, the 12
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constellations of the zodiac, the
"chambers of the south," each "led forth"
from the underworld in its own "season,"
stood for the South. And the "Bear with
her train," "guided" in their unceasing
course round the pole, stood for the
circumpolar constellations in the North.
-International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,
“Astronomy”
153
Intermission…
Master Method Part 2:
The Jubilee Code
In a previous teaching we talked about
an amazing 600 year cycle for
predicting the New Moon.
The historian Josephus called this 600
year cycle “the Great Year” and used it as
an explanation for why the patriarchs lived
such long lives—in part to make “accurate
geometric and astronomical calculations”.
The reason this works is due to simple
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math…
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7,421 lunar months (29.530588 days) =
219,146.493548 days.
600 x tropical year (365.242187 days) =
219,145.3122 days.
Now SUBTRACT the top from the bottom
for the difference: The 7,421 lunar months
1.181345 days = 1 day, 4 hours, 21
minutes and 8 ½ seconds longer than
the 600 solar-tropical years. But the two
figures are close enough to predict NMs! 156
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But my main point about this cycle is not
predicting new moons 600 years in
advance, but that 600 solar years
comprises 12 Jubilees (50 year
periods), 1 for every tribe of Israel!
This in turn is a direct analogy to the solar
year, which we have seen is also divided
up by 12 equal portions of 30.44 days
each, and the same is true for “12 hours of
daylight” & 12 hours of night (John 11:9)! 157
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Therefore, since the 600 year solar
“whole” is keyed to 12ths, that fraction
of 12, whether 30 degrees of a circle,
30.44 days per solar month or 50 solar
years (Jubilee), must also present a
predictable pattern…and boy does it
ever!
The first step to seeing this Grand Design,
it to understand that the Jubilee itself is a
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lunar-solar counting device…
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"You will count 7 weeks of years – 7 times 7
years, that is to say a period of 7 weeks of
years, 49 years. And on the 10th day of the
7th month you will sound the trumpet; on the
Day of Expiation (Atonement) you will sound
the trumpet throughout the land. You will
declare this 50th year to be sacred and
proclaim the liberation of all the country's
inhabitants. You will keep this as a jubilee:
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each of you will return to his ancestral
property, each to his own clan. This 50th
year will be a jubilee year for you; in it you
will not sow, you will not harvest the
grain that has come up on its own or in it
gather grapes from your untrimmed vine.
The jubilee will be a holy thing for you;
during it you will eat whatever the fields
produce. (Leviticus 25:8-12 NJB)
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So since the 50th year begins in the spring,
when we would let the crops go unsown
and un-harvested until the next spring…
…this can only happen with a solar year in
place.
However, the announcement of the
coming Jubilee is from the previous
year’s Yom Kippur (10th day of the 7th
month) which also involves the cycles
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of the moon.
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Furthermore, the harvest festivals for
barley (Passover) and grapes
(Tabernacles) are required precisely at
the time of full moon in the seasons
they occur.
This is because it has been scientifically
proven that the full moon is the best time
of the lunar month to harvest crops—but
Moshe knew that 3,000+ years ago
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because Abba YHWH told him so!
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Then our friend and hero Philo begins to
suggest that math is at the heart of all of
these concepts for 50…
But the universe consists of a combination
of equality and inequality, on which
account the Creator himself, even amid
the destruction of all earthly things,
placed a sort of fixed pattern of stability
in the ark. This then is enough to say
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about the number 300. We must now
proceed to speak of the 50 cubits, on the
following principle; for in the first place it is
composed of the right angle of the
quadrangular figures; for a right angle is
compounded of 3, 4, and 5; and the square
of these is 9, 16, and 25, the sum total of
which when added together is 50; in the
second place, the perfect number 50 is
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composed of these 4 triangles linked
together, 1, 3, 6, 10; and again of these 4
equal quadrangles also united together, 1, 4,
9, 16; therefore these triangles when
collected together make 20; and the
quadrangles make 30; and 20 and 30 added
together make 50. But if the triangle and the
quadrangle are added together, they make a
heptangular figure: so that it is contained
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by its virtue in the number of 50, that
divine and holy number; to which the
prophet had regard when he proclaimed
the jubilee festival.
(Philo, Questions and Answers on Gen, 2:5)
However, in addition to being an amazing
mathematician skilled in geometry, Philo
was (IMHO) an even greater astronomer,
and the math works above as well!
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And this period of 49 solar years was
astronomically a period of restitution, for
the sun and moon returned nearly to
their original positions relative to each
other, since 49 solar years are 606 lunar
months with an error of only 32 hours. So
that though the Jubilee period is not a
perfect lunar cycle, it was quite exact
enough to guide the Jewish priests in
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drawing up their calendar in cases where
the failure of observation had given rise
to some doubt. The beginning of each
month was marked by the blowing of the two
silver trumpets (chatsotserah: Nu 10:2,10).
The beginning of the civil, that is to say, of
the agricultural year, was marked by a
special blowing of trumpets (teru`ah), giving
the name "Feast of Trumpets" to that new
moon (Lev 23:24; Nu 29:1)…
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And the beginning of a new cycle of 49
years was marked by the Jubilee, the
loud trumpet (shophar: Lev 25:9). Thus
the cycle of the Jubilee made
symmetrical, completed, and welded
together all the mo`adhim of the Lord-the two great lights were set "for
seasons.”-International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia, “Astronomy”
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But there is one further astronomicalJubilee ramification that the editors of
ISBE didn’t pick up…
In spite of the overwhelming Scriptural and
historical evidence that counting the month
forward from the waxing crescent was
pagan and un-Scriptural, some Biblical
authorities cling to the crescent as a
“fragmentary historical memory”.
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My research though has pinpointed two
possible sources for this confusion.
First, 1 Samuel 20 says that it was normal
to mark the New Moon over a 2 day
festival…Saul expected David to attend
one day or the other, but David didn’t
show.
The only way you can count 2 “new moon
days” is from Dark Moon to Crescent,
anything else is not part of being “new”. 171
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By the time the Rabbis then compiled the
Talmud, they recorded—accurately—that
it was normal to sanctify the new moon
over 2 days.
The problem was, they forgot which
day was the “right one” to start the
month, and so the opinions flew all over
the place. They also hated Philo, who had
the right info and was an eyewitness that
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day 1 (Dark Moon) was “the day”.
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The other issue was that for a period of
about 120 years, the Pharisees and the
Sadducees were fighting for dominance in
Israel.
Sometimes kings or pagan rulers
favored one sect and sometimes the
other…the Sadducees were crescent
reckoners and the Pharisees used
calculation and observation for the
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Dark Moon.
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So confusion crept into the calendar
“memories” of the later Rabbis, and
what they remembered depended on what
source they had for the fragmentary
understanding.
According to the Talmud (and detailed
in other presentations), a high priest
died on Yom Kippur each year for 300
years. In all likelihood, this number was
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exaggerated…
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However, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a
real problem or long standing controversy
with different calendar schools.
Josephus lists land Sabbaths in Israel
that no scholar has been able to
reconcile by a single set of calendar
rules.
The Land Sabbaths were said to take
place in the years 164, 135 and 37 BCE,
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and then again in 37 CE (or AD).
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There was only one way to reconcile these
years: Sometime after the ascension of
John Hyrcanus as High Priest, the rabbis
“forgot” the 50th year and proclaimed
Jubilee at the start of the 49th year,
rather than at the end.
In essence, 164 and 135 BCE were
correct Land Sabbath years, but 37 BCE
was 2 years too early; should have
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been 35 BCE instead.
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The 2 year discrepancy though is easy to
account for once the rabbis switched from
counting 50 year cycles to 49 instead for
about a century.
But the last Land Sabbath, in 37 CE,
was back on a restored 50 year cycle!
So what happened in between the years
37 BCE and 37 CE?
According to the Talmud, the answer was
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Hillel the Elder.
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Our Rabbis taught: Since the death of the
last prophets, Haggai, Zechariah and
Malachi, the Holy Spirit [of prophetic
inspiration] departed from Israel; yet they
were still able to avail themselves of the
Bath-kol. Once when the Rabbis were met
in the upper chamber of Gurya's house at
Jericho, a Bath-kol was heard from Heaven,
saying: 'There is one amongst you who is
worthy that the Shechinah should rest178
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on him as it did on Moses, but his
generation does not merit it.' The Sages
present set their eyes on Hillel the Elder.
And when he died, they lamented and said:
'Alas, the pious man, the humble man, the
disciple of Ezra [is no more].'
Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin, 11a
And Ezra was a high priest, in full
knowledge of the calendar secrets (Ezra
6:14-18)! But getting back to Hillel… 179
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Legend says that after so many priests
had died on Yom Kippur that Hillel the
Elder called a meeting of the most
important leaders in Israel, in 10 BCE.
Though he was 110 years old, like Moses,
Hillel’s eye was not dim nor was his
natural spirit abated. He did the ancient
equivalent of “reading them the riot
act” and shamed everyone into
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agreement to get on his calendar.
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Josephus then says around that same
time, the Pharisees finally won power
and influence permanently over their
rivals the Sadducees; a deal was struck
giving the latter the high priesthood and
Sanhedrin, but forcing them to follow
Pharisaic practice.
From then on, the Pharisaic calendar ruled
in Israel, until the destruction of the
Second Temple on August 2nd, 70 CE. 181
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This was the calendar that both Josephus
and Philo said was authoritative in Israel.
Even though secretly the Sadducees
still believed they were right, politics
forced them to accept their rival’s
calendar.
That is why Y’shua says in Matthew 23:1-2
that “the scribes and Pharisees sit on the
throne of Moshe”—the Sadducees are not
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on the throne of Moshe & don’t rule!
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But the doctrine of the Sadducees is this:-That souls die with the bodies; nor do they
regard the observation of anything besides
what the law enjoins them, for they think it
an instance of virtue to dispute with those
teachers of philosophy whom they frequent;
but this doctrine is received but by a few,
yet by those still of the greatest dignity;
but they are able to do almost nothing by
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themselves; for when they become
magistrates, as they are unwillingly and
by force sometimes obliged to be, they
addict themselves to the notions of the
Pharisees, because the multitude would
not otherwise bear them.
(Josephus, Antiquities,18:16-17)
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Nevertheless, when one reads about the
frequent arguments between Y’shua and
the Pharisees, it’s easy to lose sight of
where they agree with one another
100% of the time.
And the one place that Y’shua and the
Pharisees are always on the same page is
the calendar! Not once does Y’shua ever
chide them for doing Shabbat or a Feast
185
on the wrong day!
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And the opposite must also be true: If the
Pharisees could charge Y’shua with being
on the “wrong” calendar, wouldn’t they
have done so? And wouldn’t 2000 years of
rabbinic tradition mentioned it, even once?
So they can call him a Samaritan, the
bastard child of a Roman soldier who
raped his mother, a sorcerer and a
demon but shirk from saying Y’shua
kept the wrong calendar if he did so? 186
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That is why I believe the conclusion is
inescapable and beyond dispute: When it
came to the calendar Y’shua and the
Pharisees kept the exact same one with
the exact same rules, as did Josephus
and Philo as well.
And Y’shua said in Matthew 23:1-2 that
their/his calendar went back to Moshe,
because they are now sitting on his
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throne!
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Getting back to the main point though, this
is also the calendar Hillel the Elder fixed in
10 BCE—there is no other explanation.
And right after that fix, all of a sudden the
Jubilees are coming in 50 year increments
again, because I believe Hillel could
prove his case not just from Scripture,
but from mathematics that cannot be
altered.
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But the reason Hillel intervened and the
reason the priests kept dying on Yom
Kippur, was because the crescent crept
in as a way to determine the start of the
month.
In some years, the Dark Moon and the
crescent would agree on the 1st day of the
month, in which case, the priest goes into
the Holy of Holies on the right day and
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doesn’t die.
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But if the crescent pointed to the wrong start
1 day too late, then the priest would have to
die…
Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 'Tell
Aaron your brother that he may not enter
the sanctuary inside the curtain in front
of the mercy-seat on the ark whenever he
chooses, in case he incurs death, for I
appear in a cloud on the mercy-seat.
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(Leviticus 16:2 NJB)
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And into the outer tabernacle the priests at
all times entered and performed their
ministration. But into the inner tabernacle,
once a year only, the high priest entered,
with the blood which he offered for
himself and for the sins of the people.
(Hebrews 9:6-7-AENT)
So if the high priest enters that
innermost shrine a day too late, he
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dies, exactly as the Talmud says.
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Granted, and as I already alluded to, the
high priest wouldn’t die every year, but it
happened enough times to stick in the
memory of the Jewish people and create
the legend.
Ironically however the two best sources
for showing that the numbers were
inflated were the two sources most
ignored by the rabbis: Josephus and
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the NT!
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The NT also lists two high priests who each
served for a long time and, by definition, did
not die on their 1st and only Yom Kippur…
(Finally) during the high priesthood of
Khanan and Qayapa, the Word of Elohim
came upon Yochanan, the son of
Zakharyah, in the wilderness.
(Luke 3:2-AENT)
Is it coincidence then that both ruled after
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Hillel fixed the calendar in 10 BCE???
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And so it is only now, with all these tons of
data points given, that we can finally zoom
out and glimpse the Grand Design of the
Jubilee Code, which works this way…
1) Begin the 1st year of the new 50 year
cycle with the New Moon nearest spring,
which is always the first Hebrew month
(Abib). In this example let’s make it March
21st for that new moon, so on VE day
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itself.
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2) After you finish the 1st solar year,
complete 6 more years to get your first
“week” or set of 7 years (the Land
Sabbath marked the start of year 7).
3) Count 6 more complete units of 7 year
increments (42), for a total of 49 years, but
during Yom Kippur of year 49, announce
that the next spring is Jubilee. Then the
following will be true at the end of year
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49…
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The New/Dark Moon of Year 1 will again
be New/Dark at the start of year 50 (i.e.,
within 32 hours of the end of the 49th
solar year).
The Dark Moon will establish the end of
year 49; the Crescent will establish the
start of year 50, the 1st NM of Jubilee!
This is truly an amazing convergence of
math and observational astronomy!
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In other words, as the last month of the
49th year ends by the Dark moon, the 50th
year begins by the Crescent moon
7) So this is a perfect 50 year solar
clock framed by the 2 day process of
Dark Moon to Crescent! From this point,
with the “Solar Grid” of all the days
recovered, all the moon cycles in that
Jubilee time can also be predicted!
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8) Furthermore, going back to the single
Hebrew Solar Year which will add a 30th
day to its 12th month at a regular interval…
9) The Hebrew astronomer-priests over
many centuries of careful observations
would be able to predict if that last month
had 29 or 30 days by looking at those
records. Then their calculations would
match perfectly the fixed cycles of the
stars always and never go out of date! 198
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10) Finally, because it was customary to
blow the shofar at the start of the Jubilee,
and because that day or the day after
coincided with the appearance of the
waxing crescent at evening, it goes a
long way to explaining the false
memory of directly blowing the shofar
at the crescent, even though Psalm 81
specifically said for the month to blow it at
the Dark Moon!
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What emerges then is a 50 year
calendar that is a perfect clock, not just
of calling the day of the Abib NM 50
years in advance, but also the exact
alignment of that Abib moon with the
50th solar anniversary from where you
began counting!
In the last example, we used a NM date of
March 21st deliberately to align with the
Vernal Equinox, the star signs of spring. 200
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The Hebrew Solar Year ran perfectly from
the sunset after VE to the sunset after the
next VE, where each moment could be put
on a grid of solar days or a perfectly
accurate table of 50 years worth of lunar
months.
When the skies were cloudy, all the priests
needed to do was look at their charts for
the last 50 years…
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Or, as we saw before, they could look at
smaller chunks of data of 50 weeks or
50 months and predict the exact day by
calculation for times when the moon
could not be sighted.
So once again, 50 is the perfect number
for all cycles in Torah, for omer (50
days), 1 year prediction (50 weeks), 4
year prediction (50 months) and Jubilee
prediction (50 years)! O Amazing Yah! 202
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Finally, all these math predictions were
married with these observations of the
fixed stars and the moon
So that if, for example, the New Moon
was on VE day, they would notice that
beginning of spring exactly 19 solar
years later, would also present a New
Moon, within 2 hours of 235 complete
lunar months, the so-called “Metonic
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Cycle”.
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That pattern would then give rise to
another method for checking and honing
the priests’ calculations…
The absolute rule is that Pesach can never
start the day before Vernal Equinox, and
that the New Moon nearest VE is always
Abib.
But that means that sometimes Pesach
can start ON the day of VE, though most
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times it will be at least 1 day later.
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Since the Hebrew Solar Year called VE
“Day 1 of Month 1”, they would know what
we generally call today as March 21st, to
perfect precision.
Therefore a full moon on Day 1, Month
1/Passover, would come back to that
exact solar day 19 years later…in which
case they would know the Abib NM was
hitting as early as it could, around March
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7th.
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A March 6/7 Abib NM then would have to
be treated differently, if it was the start
point of a fresh 49 year count.
If that happened, the astronomer priests
would have had to count the following New
Moon (say around April 6th) as the start
point for 606 lunar months/49 complete
lunar years. If not, then any New Moon
starting later (about March 8th) would be
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the start point for the next 49 years.
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 And so, today’s method of adding leap
months every 2-3 years of the Hebrew
calendar is based on that 19 year cycle…”
Though today’s calendar is not based on
the moon’s phase, the 19 year cycle
reveals how over 19 years a Lunar phase
of “X” comes back to that same phase 19
years later, which is yet another way to
predict the New Moon without seeing it!
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The Final Pattern
But there is still one more amazing pattern
to tell of—the proof that Torah math is
both perfect and exquisite at every level.
The Exodus happened at a precise
convergence of astronomical cycles,
specifically that of the vernal equinox and
the full moon hitting on Shabbat, a Friday
night. Everything about that night was
frozen—recorded in Israelite memory.
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The Final Pattern
When it came time though for Israel to
settle down as a nation, they were
counting their days by New Moon, not Full
Moon cycles, so this pattern was adapted
accordingly.
At some point in their long history, the
precise timing of a New Moon hitting close
to the time of—definitely on the day of—
VE would have been recorded.
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The Final Pattern
That convergence of VE and New Moon
would have been considered the
starting point of a special cycle,
because this is mirroring the Exodus
and, as we will soon see, the priestly
cycles as well.
In a year (1939 CE) when we have a New
Moon around March 21st, we will begin
counting time forwards with great
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precision…
The Final Pattern
The New Moon on March 21st, 1958 then
represents the 606th lunar cycle from
where we started counting in 1939.
This is significant because it helps
explains one of the most curious time
keeping statements in Tanakh…one that
no one has offered up a satisfactory of
explanation for up until now.
We read about the most Set Apart day of
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them all in Leviticus 25…
The Final Pattern
'You are also to count off 7 sabbaths of
years for yourself, 7 times 7 years, so
that you have the time of the seven
sabbaths of years, namely, 49 years. You
shall then sound a ram's horn abroad on
the 10th day of the 7th month; on the day
of atonement you shall sound a horn all
through your land. 'You shall thus
consecrate the 50th year and proclaim a
release through the land to all its
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The Final Pattern
inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and
each of you shall return to his own property,
and each of you shall return to his family.
'You shall have the 50th year as a jubilee;
you shall not sow, nor reap its after growth,
nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. 'For it
is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall
eat its crops out of the field.
(Leviticus 25:8-12 NAU)
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The Final Pattern
At this time then I would like you to
recall our recent discussion on the 600
year solar cycle that is very close to
7,421 lunar months.
That predictive mechanism also contained
12 50 year jubilees, one for every tribe of
Israel.
Now it seems the 50 month periods are
also being thought of as “mini-jubilees”
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in this clock.
The Final Pattern
Having seen also that 606 lunar months =
49 complete solar years…
…and having just set that clock to start
counting time from a New Moon that aligns
with the first day of spring/VE…
…what will happen now is we need to
count backwards from month 606, to Yom
Kippur in the previous fall. When we do
that, the 7th month will always be month
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600!
The Final Pattern
In other words, when we complete 12 50
month “mini-Jubilees”, one for each tribe
of Israel, it brings us to the exact 7th month
where we will announce the full Jubilee,
the start of the 50th solar year.
So one 50 x 12 cycle brings you to count
towards the 50th solar year (Jubilee) and
50 jubilees x 12 counts to 600 years, when
the solar and lunar cycles align again!
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The Final Pattern
But one nagging question still must be
answered: Why announce the Jubilee at
Yom Kippur, the 10th day, rather than at
New Moon Day (Yom Teruah) or Full
Moon Day (Sukkot)?
Why in fact is Yom Kippur on the 10th
day of the 7th month at all—the most
important day of all not being on new
or full moon day? It seems very odd—
even arbitrary—until we do the math! 217
The Final Pattern
The key to the answer is counting time
from a New Moon hitting at spring/VE.
When that happens, a March 20-21 New
Moon which is also 1 Abib will point back
to Yom Kippur in a very particular way.
We will begin counting days from Tishri 10
to Abib 1, alternating between 30 and 29
day months, which works perfect in math
samples this large. Let’s count the
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time…
The Final Pattern
1) From Tishri 11 to 30 inclusive:
2) All of Heshvan:
3) All of Kislev:
4) All of Tevet:
5) All of Shevat:
6) All of Adar:
7) 1 to get to 1 Abib:
TOTAL DAYS
20 days
29 days
30 days
29 days
30 days
29 days
1
168
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The Final Pattern
168 is a very special calendar number…
Recall how the priestly courses were
divided into 24 groups, as were the
Levites, by David himself (1 Chronicles 24
and 25).
We are also told in 1 Chronicles 24:19
that this division was based “according
to the ordination given to them by
Aaron their father”, so David is simply
following instructions left by Aaron. 220
The Final Pattern
But why would the number 24 be so
important to both Aaron and David—
unless they understood the period from
sunset to sunset was 24 hours long
and therefore understood the need to
divide that day into 24 equal hours!
Further proof is that the word for
“minister”, which is a synonym for priest, is
shamash and this is the same word in
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Hebrew for shemesh—the sun!
The Final Pattern
And the service cycle of the priests was also
meant to mimic the sun as well…
So the Levites and all Judah did according
to all that Yehoiada the priest commanded.
And each one of them took his men who
were to come in on the Shabbat, with
those who were to go out on the Shabbat,
for Yehoiada the priest did not dismiss any
of the divisions. (2 Chronicles 23:8)
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The Final Pattern
So we see clearly that each course served
“Shabbat to Shabbat”, meaning that a
course came and went on a Friday
afternoon.
Each Friday, the new course would
come in the afternoon to begin
relieving the old course that had been
on duty from the previous Shabbat.
Therefore, each course served 7 days…
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The Final Pattern
So here’s where the math comes in…
24 hours x 7 days = 168 hours
168 hours = 1 week = 1 course’s service
24 courses x 7 days = 168 days for all 24
courses to serve one week!
And 168 days is the exact length of time
between Yom Kippur and 1 Abib when we
begin a count 50 years earlier, when 1
Abib NM hit on the first day of spring! 224
The Final Pattern
In other words, the amount of days for
all 24 priest courses to serve is
deliberately meant to match exactly the
same amount of days from when the
Jubilee is announced (Yom Kippur) to
when it begins (1 Abib)! It is keyed to
priestly time!
Not only does this explain perfectly why
Yom Kippur was chosen to announce
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Jubilee…
The Final Pattern
It also explains why Moshe was told to put
the Day of Atonement on the 10th of Tishri
in the first place, for only by doing so could
we have the perfect convergence of
priestly time and Jubilee time!
The fact that this same clock is tracking
solar years precisely from VE to VE,
predicting NMs and balancing on 50
month “mini-Jubilees” at the same time is
beyond amazing. Jeremiah was right… 226
The Final Pattern
Yahweh says this, "If I have not created
day and night and fixed the laws governing
heaven and earth, why, then I shall reject the
descendants of Jacob and of David my
servant and cease to choose rulers from his
descendants for the heirs of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob! For I shall bring back their
captives and take pity on them." '
(Jeremiah 33:25-26 NJB)
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abr hdwt
Todah Rabbah
Peace and blessings
Andrew Gabriel Roth
Completed on my 50th
Birthday/Jubilee Year
April 7th, 2014
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