303 or 304, Bing Province suffered a major famine

In 303 or 304, Bing Province suffered a major famine, and the Jie tribes were seriously affected. Shi Le's tribe spread out and became refugees. Shi and many other Jie and Xiongnu men were captured by Jin officials and sold as slaves. Eventually, he was sold to a man named Shi Huan (師懽), but Shi Huan freed him after becoming impressed with his talents. Eventually, he became a leader of bandits, and at one point he befriended one of Sima Ying the Prince of Chengdu's military commanders, Ji Sang (汲桑). Sima Ying was then stationed at Yecheng and was the most powerful of the Jin imperial princes.

Historical records of earthquakes since 1700BC

DATE YEAR LOCATION DEAD PROPERTY RICHTER
THOUSANDS MILLIONS SCALE
http://www.biblequery.org/History/Calamities/Earthquakes.htm
1700 BC. Crete severe
1700 BC. Egypt major
373 BC. Helice, Greece
17 A.D. Philadelphia, Asia Minor
363 AD Petra, Jordan
365 Knossos, Crete 50
7/21 365 Kourion, Cyprus 3000 7
403 Constantinople (Chrysostom exiled)
5/20 526 Antioch, Syria 250
528 Antioch, Syria
844 Damascas, Syria 50
847 Mosul, Iraq 50
847 Damascas, Syria 50
856 Corinth, Greece 45
856 Qumis, Damghan, Iran 200
893 Caucasus, Russia 51
893 Daipur, India 180
893 Ardabil, Iran 150
1038 Shansi, China 23
1042 Palmyra, Baalbek, Syria 50
1057 Chihli, China 25
1138 Ganzah, Aleppo, Syria 230
1170 Sicily, Italy 15
1201 Upper Egypt, or Syria 1000
1257 Kamakura, Japan
1268 Cilicia, modern Turkey 60
9/27 1290 Chihli, China 100 6.75
5/20 1293 Kamakura, Japan 30
1400 Ethiopia
1456 Naples, Italy 60
1/26 1531 Lisbon, Portugal 30
12/10 1542 Sicily, Italy
1/23-24 1556 Shaanxi, China 830 XI
1562 Santiago de los Caballeros Dominican Repub.
1563 Cattaro, Montenegro, Yugoslavia devastated
4/6 1580 Belgium
1647 Santiago chile severe equake
6/21 1660 Pyrenees
11 1667 Shemaka, Azerbaijan, Russia 80 6.9
1667 Cattaro, Montenegro, Yugoslavia devastated
1668 Shantung, China 50 XII
1678 Lahijan, Iran large
1692 Port Royal, Jamaica -destroyed city
9/8 1692 Belgium
1/11 1693 Catania, Italy 59.963
1693 Naples, Italy 96.5 XI
1694 Italy
1703 Jeddo, Japan 200
1727 Tabriz, Iran 77
12/30 1730 Hokkaido, Japan 137
1731 Beijing, China 100
10/11 1737 Calcutta, India 300
1739 China 50
1746 Callao, Peru Equake+tidal wave 6
6/7 1755 Northern Iran 40
11/1 1755 Lisbon, Portugal 58 8.75
1759 Baalbek, Syria severe
9/14 1777 Manchester, England 0 IV to V
1780 Tabriz, NW Iran 100
2/4 1783 Calabria, Southern Italy 50
11-7 1788 Ethiopia
2/4 1797 Quito, Ecuador 41
12/16,1/23,2/7 1811 New Madrid, Missouri 0.01 7.95
1816 Luhuo, Suchang China 2.9
1819 Cutch, India 1.5
9/5 1822 Aleppo, Asia Minor 22
12/28 1828 Echigo, Honshu, Japan 30
1836 N.East Bay California 7
1836 N. Japan 28.321
1847 Zenkoji, Japan 34
1857 Cholane, California 8
1857 Tejon Pass, California --- 7.5
1858 Corinth, Greece
8/13-15 1868 Peru & Ecuador 47.5
1868 S. East Bay California 7
5/16 1875 Venezuela & Columbia 16
6/30 1880 Ethiopia
1883 Java, Indonesia 100
8/31 1886 Charleston, South Carolina 60 77 IX
1890 San Bernadino Valley California 7.0
1891 Osaka, Japan 10
~1892 Anza, California 7
1893 Malatya, E Turkey
1894 Armenia, Russia
6/15 1896 Sanriku, Japan 27.12
1897 Assam, India 1.5
1898 Japan 22
1899 Armenia Russia
4/29 1903 Malazgird Turkey 6 7.0
1905 Jammu & Kashmir, India 19 8.6
4/18-19 1906 San Francisco 0.5 333 8.3
8/16 1906 Valpraiso, Chile 20 3556 8.6 Others say 1.5
1907 Kingston, Jamaica 1.4
12/28 1908 Messina, Italy 86 7.5
8/9 1912 Murefte Turkey 1.0 7.3
1914 Armenia, Russia
1/13 1915 Abruzzi (Avezano), Italy 31.2 7.5
1918 San Jacinto Valley, Cal 7
12/16 1920 Gansu (Kansu), China 168 8.6
3/24 1923 Luhuo, Suchang China 3 7.3
9/1 1923 Tokyo, Japan 110.325 700kHomes 8.3
5/27 1927 Nan-Shan, China 200 8.3
1927 Kingston, Jamaica-devastating
1928 Corinth, Greece
1930 Apennine Mts, Italy 1.5
1932 Gansu (Kansu), China 70
5/2 1933 Japan 2.99 8.9
1/15 1934 Bihar-Nepal, India 10.7 8.4
5/31 1935 Quetta,Baluchistan(Pakistan) 38.3 7.5
1/24 1939 Chile 28 8.3
12/26 1939 Erzincan, Turkey 34.2 7.9
12/20 1942 Niksau, Turkey 3 7.0
11/27 1943 Ladik, Turkey 4.0 7.3
2/1 1944 Grede, Turkey 4.0 7.3
1946 Alaska, Hawaii USA 0.15
5/31 1946 Eastern Turkey 1.3 6.0
12/21 1946 Honshu, Japan 2 8.4
10/5 1948 Soviet Union 110 no reading
5/21 1950 CUsco, Peru .090
6/28 1948 Fukui (Fuki), Japan 5.131 7.3
8/5 1949 Pelileo, Ecuador 6 20 6.8
1949 USSR 16
8/15 1950 Assam, India" 1.53 8.7
3/18 1953 NW Turkey 1.2 7.2
9/9-12 1954 Northern Algeria 1.425 6.8
6/10-17 1956 Kabul, Afghanistan 2 7.7
7/2 1957 Northern Iran 2.5 7.4
12/13 1957 Western Iran 1.7 7.1
1957 Outer Mongolia 1.2
5/21-23 1960 Southern Chile 5.5 1175 8.3
2/29 1960 Agada (Agadir), Morocco 12 5.8
9/1 1962 NW Iran 12.23 7.1
1962 Italy
1963 Barce, Libya 0.3
1963 Taiwan 0.1
7/26 1963 Skopje, Yugoslavia 1.1 6.0
3/27 1964 Anchorage, Alaska, USA 0.1 8.5
8/19 1966 Varto, Eastern Turkey 2.5 6.9 IX
1967 Caracas, Venezuela 0.266
8/31 1968 Dashta Bayaz, NE Iran 12 7.4
0.0968 1969 Southern tip of Sinai, Egypt 7.1
3/28 1970 Gediz, Western Turkey 1.7355 7.3 IX
5/31 1970 Off Coast of Chimbote, Peru 7 230 7.7
1971 San Fernando, California, USA 0.064
12/23 1972 Managua, Nicaragua 5 6.2
2/6 1973 Luhuo, Suchang China 5 7.9
12/28 1974 Pakistan 5.2 6.3
9/6 1975 Lice, Turkey 2.3485 6.7 VIII
1975 Liaoning, China <10 7.3
2/4 1976 Guatemala 22.8 1.4 7.5
5/6 1976 NE Italy 0.946 6.5
6/26 1976 Irian Jaya, New Guinea 0.443 7.1
7/4 1976 N. Bali, Indonesia 0.5 5.6
7/28 1976 Tangshan, China (some est. 1.1M) 374 8.1
8/17 1976 Mindanao, Philippines 8 7.8
11/24 1976 Caldiran, Eastern Turkey 3.84 7.5 X
1976 U.S.S.R. 5?
3/4 1977 Bucharest, Romania 1.541 7.5
8/19 1977 Indonesia 0.2 8
11/23 1977 NW Argentina 0.1 8.2
9/16 1978 Iran 25 7.7
1979 Colombia, Ecuador 0.6 7.9
9/12 1979 Irian Java, Indonesia 0.1 8.1
10/10 1980 el-Asnam, Algeria 4 7.5
11/23 1980 Southern Italy 4.8 7.2
1983 Eastern Turkey 1.4 7.1
9/19 1985 Mexico City, Mexico 9 8.1
12/7 1988 Spitak, Armenia, Russia 25 2.5% USSR GDP 6.8
10/17 5:04pm 1989 San Francisco, California USA 0.067 3.575 injured $6B 7.1
6/21 12:31am 1990 Zanjan, NW Iran 40 dam burst, villages buried 7.5
7/16 1990 Luzon, Philippines 0.5 7.7 1K injured, U.S. mil. helps
4/21 1991 Limon, Costa Rica 0.07 10K homeless 7.2
10/20 1991 Almora, Uttar Pradesh, India 0.341 7.1
3/14 1992 Erzincan, Turkey 0.8 180K homeless
3/16 1992 Erzincan, Turkey 6
10/12 1992 20 mi SW Cairo, Egypt 0.37 3.3 injured 5.9
12/ 1992 Maumere, Indonesia 1.5 80% bldgs 7.5
7/13 1993 50m W. of Hokkaido .038+.1 7.8
8/8 1993 Guam 0 71 injuries 8.1
8/19/1994 NW Algeria 0.15 286 injuries 9K homeless aftershock 5.1
1/17 1995 Kobe and West Japan 5.5 7.2

TOTAL 6931.11 thousand 1593.1
There have been 1.45 million earthquake fatalities this century N.O.A.A. 1980 & B.SSA 1981-1989

does not include Tangshan
Ethiopia had 50 quakes before 1875
There were 58 quakes in Greece and Turkey between 1902 and 1946
There were 82 quakes in Greece and Turkey between 1947 and 1966
There were 45 quakes in Greece and Turkey between 1967 and 1976
There were 9 quakes in Greece and Turkey between 1977 and 1981
"Santiago, Chile had 24 quakes between 1955 and 1985."
"Encyclopedia, Britannica"
"Jim Hummel, San Jose Mercury News Sat May 14, 1983"
AP 6/22/90 Houston Chronicle
"In 2000 AD., 290 million people at risk"


HURRICANES "DEAD (1,000's)"

10/7 1737 "Bengal, India" 300
-11 1780 Caribbean Islands 25
10/5 1864 "Calcultta, India" 60
1876 "Bengal, India" 200
1881 "Haiphong, Vietnam" 300
9/8 1900 Galveston 6
1906 Hong Kong 10
1928 USA 2
10/16 1942 "Bengal, India" 35
5/28-29 1963 Bangladesh 22
1965 Bangladesh 37
11/13 1970 Bangladesh 500
1974 "Honduras, H. Fifi" 4
1888-1976 Other 51.372
1888-1976 Other 2.515
~5/5 1991 Bangladesh 138

TOTAL 1497 thousand

"FLOODS, TSUNAMIS" "DEAD (1,000's)"

4000-3500 BC. Sumeria
7/21 365 Alexandria&Greece from Kourion earthquake 3 "1,000's"
726 Tidal wave near Thera caused by volcano
1099 England & Netherlands 50
1228 Holland 100
1354-1359 China
11/18 1421 Netherlands 10
1642 China 300
1707 Japan (Tsunami) 30
11/1 1755 "Sanriku, Japan (Tsunami)" 10
1824 Russia 10
8/27 1883 Krakatoa (Tsunami) 30
9-10 1887 "Huang He River, China" 900
1889 "Johnstown, Pa." 2.2
6/15 1896 "Sanriku, Japan (Tsunami)" 27
1900 "Galveston, Tx." 5
1911 "Chang Jim River, China" 100
8 1931 "Huang He River, China" 3700
10/30 1937 near Damascas, Syria 3
1939 Northern China 275
1942 "Kaifang, China" 300
8/11 1979 Morvi India 10
1991 China

TOTAL 5852.2 thousand

VOLCANOS "DEAD (1,000's)"

4377 BC "major, Nazama, South Oregon"
3199 BC "major, N. hemisphere"
1628 BC. "major, N. hemisphere"
?1500 BC. " Santorini, Greece" ?
1153 BC. "major, N. hemisphere"
79 "Mt. Vesuvius, Italy" 18
260 "Ilpango volcano, El Salvador"
300 AD Volcano Xitli in Mexico
541 AD "major, N. hemisphere"
1169 "Mt. Etna, Sicily" 15
1532-33 Cotopaxi C. Ecuador
1631 Mt. Vesuvius 4
1663 Mt. Fugendake Japan
3/25 1669 "Mt. Etna, Sicily, Italy" 20
1698 Cotopaxi C. Ecuador destroyed Tacunga
1744 Cotopaxi C. Ecuador heard 500 mi away
1766 Hekla in Iceland
1772 "Mt. Papandayan, Java" 3
6-8 1783 "Mt. Skaptor, Iceland" 10
1792 "Mt. Unzen-Dake (Mt. Fugendake), Japan" 10.4 or 15K
4/5 1815 "Tambora, Java, Indonesia" 11.5
1837 Zefat, Galilee
8/27 1883 Krakatoa (Tsunami) 35.5 12 mi^2 gone noise heard 3000 mi away
4/18 1902 "Santa Maria, Guatemala" 3.5
5/18 1902 "Mt. Pelee, Martinique" 30
1911 "Mt. Taal, Philippines" 1.4
1919 "Mt. Kelud, Java, Indonesia" 5.1
1930 Indonesia 1.4
1/8-21 1951 "Mt. Lamington, New Guinea" 3.0
1963 Indonesia 1.2
5 1970 Hekla in Iceland
10 1976 "Volcan, de Fuego, Guatemala"
11/1963-1965 "Surtsey, Iceland" 0
4/26 1966 "Mt. Kelud, Java, Indonesia" 1
5/18 1980 "major, Mt. St. Helens" 0.06
8 1980 Hekla in Iceland
1982 Yemen 3 500
1982 Mexico 1.7
11/13 1985 "Armero, Colombia Minor Eruption mud slide" 23
8/24 1986 NW Cameroon 1.7
6/3 1991 "Mt. Fugendake, Japan" 0.041

TOTAL 202.7 thousand


FIRES

525 "Antioch, Syria"
1871 Chicago 250
1872 "Tokyo, Japan"
1624 "Oslo, Norway"
9/2-9/9 1666 "London, England"
1909 "Osaka, Japan"
1912 "Osaka, Japan"

Reflection of the time

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The First Sliver of the New Moon over Jerusalem (center of picture)

The BibleSearchers Reflections

Reflections on the Time of the End

By Robert Mock MD

robertmock@biblesearchers.com

www.BibleSearchers.com

April 2005 Issue

News Moons and Barley - Preparation for the Festival Seasons of the Lord  

When does the First Month of Nissan (Aviv) Begin? 

Topics

The Lunar – Aviv Biblical Festival New Years

The Calculated Jewish Passover Biblical Calendar

The Hebrew Solar Calendar before the Babylonian Exile

The Hebrew Daily Calendar

The Hebrew Monthly Calendar

The Barley, the First Fruits and the 1^st Month of Aviv

The Lunar – Aviv Biblical Festival New Years

On March 11, 2005, Nisan 1, 5765, the New Moon was sighted over Jerusalem.  It was so very faint but if you take a look closely in the center of the picture at the heading of this manuscript, you will behold the finger of the Eternal One of Israel as He sets His sign in the darkness of the heavens for anyone to behold. 

On Tuesday, March 8, 2005, the wild barley was found in Aviv (ripened sheaves) in the Land of Israel at Alon Junction and also at Ein Mabua 15 km. east of Jerusalem.  Did the festivals of the Lord begin on this date? What was also noted on that same date, the “Aviv Searchers” in training found that the heads of barley grain were already in advance state of ripening.  

Examination of Aviv Barley at Ein Mabua on March 8, 2005

Later on March 11, 2005, the annual barley hunt was carried out in the Northern Negev region and along the Jordan Valley by the Karaite Jews.  This is a sect of Judaism that is promoting the return to the Aviv (ripening) barley and the new moon sighting as a prelude to understanding the Torah rituals given to Moses and Aaron to begin the yearly festivals of the Lord in the Wilderness Tabernacle. 

According to the Kairite report searching for the barley, they stated:

March 11 – “On March 11, 2005 Aviv barley was found in multiple locations in the Jordan Valley including Naomi Junction and Fatzael Junction.  The Aviv barley in the Alon and Ein Magua regions were re-examined for the benefit of new Aviv searchers who had not been present on the previous occasion.  One large field below the entrance to the town of Alon, which had previously contained patches of Aviv barley had advanced to a uniform state of Aviv.  Aviv barley was not found in the northern Negev on March 10.”

Barley field at Alon Junction on March 8, 2005

Many have wondered, who governs the Calendar of the Lord?  Would it not be reasonable to state that the God of Israel does?  Yet we have a problem.  On March 11, 2005, the sliver of the First Moon was sighted over Jerusalem. Even barley in the Land of Israel was found ripened to the stage that it could be called the “First Fruits” and be waved in the sanctuary or temple of the Lord on the Festival of First Fruits. With those two conditions in mind, would it not be reasonable to assume that on March 1, 2005 the Biblical Calendar of the Lord stated as the Jewish day, 1 Nisan, 5765.  Well maybe not, because March 11, 2005 was before the Spring Equinox. 

If the Hebrew Calendar of the Lord is based solely on a Lunar Calendar then the dates for the Jewish Spring Festivals for 2005 (CE) are:

Passover – Pesach Festival, 2005

Aviv (Nisan)   1 - sunset March 11 to sunset March 12 -     New Years Day (Biblical New Year)

Aviv (Nisan) 14 - sunset March 24 to sunset March 25 - Day of Preparation, Passover Lamb Slaughtered, Messiah Crucified

Aviv (Nisan) 15 - sunset March 25 to sunset March 26 -     First Day of Unleavened Bread

Aviv (Nisan) 21 - sunset March 31 to sunset April 1     -       Seventh Day of Unleavened Bread

Pentecost – Shavuot Festival

Pentecost (Shavuot) - sunset May 14 to sunset May 15.

The Calculated Jewish Passover Biblical Calendar

The year 2005 Spring Jewish calendar began with an interesting cluster of conflicts.  Are we in a learning curve at this time?  Then maybe we should take heed that out of conflict and dissent comes destructive discord or understanding and harmony.  Out of conflict and dissent, when there is a ‘change of lifestyle with mental and spiritual orientation’, comes intimacy and fellowship with one another. 

The illustration below shows the crescent New Moon and Mercury as seen from the United States at 30 minutes after sunset on March 11, 2005.

The first conflict was that on your home calendar the calculated Jewish calendar for the Jewish year 5764 (2004-2005) was not scheduled to end until early  April, 2005.  The New Moon sighting was not scheduled to be visible until April 9 or 10, 2005.  The official beginning of the calculated Jewish festival calendar was on the eve of April 11, 2005. 

On the eve of March 14, the Festival of Purim began with festivities on the eve and during the day of March 15, 2005, the reading of the Megilla of Esther was to be read.  The calculated Jewish Festival of Passover (Pesach) began on the eve of April 24, 2004 during the full moon.  If the early barley ripening and the timing of the sliver of the New Moon began the Biblical New Year on March 11, 2004, the festival of Purim would have had to have been cancelled.  The Feast of Purim and the Festival of Passover were in conflict.  So we ask, so what?  Does it make any difference?  So far, what it has made is dissent and confusion. 

On the evening of March 24, the Messianic Christian communities following the New Moons and Aviv (ripened) barley with the Karaite Jews celebrated the Passover (Pesach). On the evening of April 24, the Jewish people with many of the Nazarene Israelites are celebrating the Passover (Pesach).  Not only is there great discord but out of the conflict comes the ultimate confusion, how can we follow the finger of the Lord as He prepares this world for the final drama in the Great Conflict between the Maschiach (Messiah) of Israel and haSatan (Satan) the arch-deceiver. 

The Hebrew Solar Calendar before the Babylonian Exile

Whereas the calendar of the festivals is based on a lunar calendar, the months of the calendar of the Jewish people before the Babylonian captivity were based upon the sun and not the moon.  Only after the Jewish people returned back to the land of Israel did they convert the Solar calendar that began their New Years to a Lunar calendar. 

The pre-Babylonian Jewish calendar began the Jewish New Years in the Aviv when the barley was ripened at the spring or the vernal equinox.  They recognized then as we recognize today that the most accurate time clock on earth was the sundial.  It is on March 21^st and September 23^rd that modern time clocks are corrected with the sun today.  To make calculations on whether our modern time pieces are ahead or behind the sun, high quality globes will have a figure eight diagram called the Analemma or the equation of time.  Therefore the modern Gregorian calendar can be recalibrated and the time recalibrated to the Solar Equinox. 

Sometime after March 21^st at the vernal equinox, the first day of the first month in the solar year began.  How was the vernal equinox calibrated?  The time between the day and the night was exactly even and could be observed by exact science on their sundials.  To the ancients, the sun was the sign of the gods in the heavens and the early Hebrews agreed. The Eternal One of Israel set forth the greater light and it was there for the setting of days and seasons.  They did not worry about whether a year was 364 ¼ days long, or whether a leap-year was needed to recalibrate their days and seasons.  Their sundial never did need re-adjusting.  There was no February 29 nor a lunar reckoning adjustment to the solar calendar of seven months every nineteen years.  Whatever recalibration time was needed from one New Year to the next was by waiting during the time after the Spring solar equinox and the arrival of the sliver of the first moon of the lunar calendar.  Today we notice that the moon calendar is about eleven days shorter than the solar calendar. 

The Hebrew Daily Calendar

The days of the week were known by numbers and not names.  To name a day or a month by the names of the gods of their foreign oppressors, whether Babylonian or Roman, was and idea that was foreign to the authentic ancient Hebrew.  Since the Creator of the Universe set the sun and the stars to be the governors for the solar order of calendars in the 4^th day of Creation, the early Israelites started the counting of the days of the week on the Fourth day, the day we know as Wednesday.

The menorah was the typology of the daily counting.  The Seventh day Sabbath (Shabbat) was called the Crown of Shabbat or at the center or highest candle shaft of the menorah.  The days then began the descent in order: First day (Sunday), Second day (Monday), Third day (Tuesday).  Then the days began three days of ascent to the Crown of the Seventh-day Shabbat: Fourth day (Wednesday), Fifth day (Thursday) and the Sixth day (Friday). Instead of the Eternal Circle of Eastern Mysticism which has no progression of time, the Hebrew concept of the progression of time was in a bio-rhythm or a wave formation with the highest elevation of mental ascent on the Seventh-day Shabbat (Sabbath).  Such was the advance stage of Hebrew thought. 

This weekly concept of days is played out in Jewish life today.  It was the First day of the week (Sunday) that the Creator God blessed, but not the second. On the Second day, the process of molding creation began by beating out the “firmament” which was called “heaven” and the heavens became the same blue as the sapphire blue below the throne of God.   Whether this is the reason we call the Second day “Blue Monday” we can only conjecture.  This fact is played out in Jewish life where business contracts and marriages are not performed on Monday from evening to evening. Most Jewish weddings are performed on the third day eve or Monday night.  Is it not interesting that Yahshua is the central man of honor at a wedding feast at Canna of Galilee on the “Third day” (John 2:1)

The Hebrew Monthly Calendar

Before the Babylonian captivity, the months of the year were called by number and not names.  As with the day, the ancient Hebrews did not use the names of the gods of their oppressors to calculate the months or days of the year.  As noted above the Hebrew New Years started after the Spring Equinox when calculations of the month began with the sliver of the New Moon.  It was not until after the Babylonian exile that the first month at Aviv (Abib) when the barley was in Aviv (ripened sheaves) began with the sighting of the sliver of the first moon.  At this time the ancient Solar calendar was converted to a Lunar calendar. 

Only after the Babylonian captivity did the Seventh month become Tishri and Rosh HaShanah, 1 Tishri, became the beginning of the New Year.  Beginning after the Fall Equinox, the number of the month was given a name according to the Babylonian gods of their captors.  These Babylonian names are: Tishri (7^th), Hesvan (8^th), Kislev (9^th), Tevet (10^th), Shevat (11^th), Adar (12^th), Nisan (1^st), Iyar (2^nd), Sivan (3^rd), Tammuz (4^th), Av (5^th) and Elul (6^th). 

Yet the Babylonian gods were not what the Creator of the Universe desired that His people recognize their time by.  The Hebrew monthly calendar was calculated according to the “gates” in the heavens, the constellations of the Zodiac or the Mazzaroth.  The procession of the Mazzaroth (Zodiac) followed the gates of the sun.  The tribes of Israel were each given a gate or a constellation in which their tribal identity would be identified.  It was this Mazzaroth that was imbedded in the story of the Plan of Salvation.

Below we outline the Hebrew months by number called the “Gates of the sun”, the Hebrew Mazzaroth (constellation) names and the Babylonian equivalent monthly names (Encyclopedia Judaica Vol 3, pg. 798) while adding the Tribes of Jacob according to the Sefer Yetzirah.  These are as follows:

                Gates/ Mazzaroth                               Babylonian                Tribe of Jacob

1.    Aries (ram)                        Nisan                           Judah

2.    Taurus (bull)                      Iyar                              Issachar

3.    Gemini (twins)                   Sivan                           Zebulun

4.    Cancer (crab)                   Tammuz                      Reuben

5.    Leo (lion)                           Av                                Shimon

6.    Virgo (virgin)                     Elul                              Gad

7.    Libra (balances)                Tishri                           Ephraim

8.    Scorpio (scorpion)            Marshechvan (Hesvan) Menashe

9.    Sagittarius (archer)           Kislev                          Benjamin

10.  Capricorn (sea goat)         Tevet                           Dan

11.  Aquarius (water bearer)    Shevat                         Asher

12.  Pices (fish)                        Adar                            Naftali

Mazzaroth Calendar and Festivals

Without an understanding of the Hebrew calendar and its adaptations or corruptions over time, we loose out the vast reservoir of meaning in its application.  The first major corruption of the Jewish calendar occurred after the Babylonian captivity. It was not Ezra or Nehemiah who instituted the corruption but this came in the days of the Maccabees, after the Abomination of Desolation of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes IV. 

In the days of the Essenes, who were called, the Ishiyim, they went into exile or separated themselves from the Pharisees in Jerusalem which they felt were corrupt and the priests of the temple who were not of the Biblical lineage of Zadok, the high priest of King David.  In the MMT document found at Qumran are found twenty four charges by the Priest of Qumran (Succaccah) against the “wicked” priest at Jerusalem.  In these accusations was one which charged that the temple priests in Jerusalem used the Babylonian Lunar Calendar and thereby the holy days or the days of the festivals of the Lord fell on the wrong dates.  At Qumran, the largest number of fragments from any one book was the Book of Enoch which used the solar calendar. Also in Qumran, eighteen copies of the Sefer Jubilees (Book of Jubilees) in which the Jubilee calendar is calculated by the solar calendar.

This corruption was later seen in our more modern calendars.  The calendar of our modern world is the Gregorian calendar which was adapted off the Roman Julian calendar in which the days and months of the year are names after pagan deities. Let us note with certainty, these calendar changes have nothing to do with astrology or astronomy.  The Gregorian calendar changes have everything to do with theology.  They wanted to change the message of the Jewish calendar in order to set up new theological framework of religious life.  When they changed the “times and the laws”, by changing the names of the calendar, they were instituting a competing religious system to Torah.  How did this happen?

The dating of the Gregorian calendar was determined by the Roman Catholic monks and is centered on the date of Jesus’ birth.  The B.C. dates were “before Christ” and the A.D. dates were called Anno Domoni which in Latin means the “year of our Lord”.  The fact that these dates are conjectural is well known in that they are centered around the date that they believed Jesus was born, which history has shown to be flawed data.  This miscalculation was known when new dating on the death of Herod the Great is now known to be in 4 B.C.  This leaves the date for Yahshua’s birth to come before the death of Herod the Great and upwards to one or two years before that time. 

The Barley, the First Fruits and the 1^st Month of Aviv

Many arguments are made as to whether the ripening of the barley is even a determining factor in the calculation of the 1^st month of the Jewish calendar.  At the time of the Israelite’s wilderness experience with Moses and Aaron at Sinai and in the desert wandering, we glean several impressions. 

1. The barley ripening is not by Torah command directly but only indirectly.  In order for the waving of the ‘first fruits sheaves” to be waved before the altar of the Lord in the tabernacle or temple on the 15^th day of the 1^st month (Aviv or Nisan), the barley must be ripe.  If not the Festival of First Fruits cannot begin. 
2. The second supposition is that the Jews could not participate in the “waving of the first fruits” unless they had a temple with priests and a reigning high priest.
3. The “stages of growth” of the barley is immaterial in that growth patterns would be different in Egypt, the wilderness of Sinai or Arabia and even in Israel. This year the barley was ripen near Jerusalem and Jordan but not in the Negev.  Then they had to consider, was the maturation different between domesticated barley and the wild barley.
4. In the days of the diaspora at the time of Yahshua (Jesus), if a Jew were to wait until word transferred across the Roman Empire that the barley was ripen, they could not arrive in Jerusalem fifteen days later to participate in the Festival of Pesach (Passover). 
5. The change of the ancient Hebrew calendar from solar to lunar has been argued to have occurred at the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. If we understand the bitter animosity between the Essenes and the Pharisees of Herod’s temple, we understand that this calendar change came after the abomination of desolation by Antiochus Epiphanes IV during the era of the Maccabees.  This would suggest that the Passover dates for the Pesach Lamb at Passover during the crucifixion and death of Jesus could have been off cycle if the festival season began before the Spring solar equinox. 

Taking a global view, was the Lord of hosts preparing his people to flawlessly follow a ritual festival or were they to develop a deeper mystical and literal understanding that being ‘on time with the God of Israel’ was critical in our relationship with Him. Is the understanding centered on ritual perfection or understanding the meaning of ‘perfect’ timing according to the authentic calendar of the Lord?  Did this same understanding have a dual application with the worship on the Seventh-day Sabbath (Shabbat)? 

If you want to worship with the Lord of hosts and He establishes a rhythm of cycle of worship, then if we worship on the 6^th day (Friday) or the 1^st day (Sunday), we are not only out of synch with the timing of the nearness of His presence, we very well may miss out of the power and depth of His presence.  It appears that the Lord of hosts has a pattern of relationship when His presence comes nearest to us.  If we miss the timing of His presence, we miss the richness of His blessings.

At the same time, the festivals of the Lord were instituted especially for two epochs of human history. The first epoch was the life and death of the Maschiach (Messiah) at His first coming forty years before the destruction of the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.  The second epoch in human history is still in the future, the time of the end when the “saint” and “holy ones of Israel” are awaiting the arrival of the Maschiach of Israel. 

Concerning the first epoch, the historical evidence shows that Yahshua ben Yosef (Jesus son of Joseph) was conceived on the 25^th of Kislev as the ‘miracle’ of the Festival of Lights.  He was born nine months later on the first day of the Festival of Tabernacles (Succot) when the son of the Eternal One of Israel came down to ‘tabernacle’ and to dwell among men.  He started His ministry in Galilee again at Succot during the Sabbatical week of years when the land was fallow and all Jewish men took a year off to mentor under a rabbi.  Then three and one-half years later He died on the 14^th of Aviv (Nisan) as the literal Pesach Lamb of God.  He rose from the grave on the first day of the Festival of First Fruits and became the first of the “first of the first fruits that will arise from the dead at the sound of the trumpet”.  He then ascended to His Father after the forty days of Omar just in time for the arrival of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) at Pentecost (Shavuot). 

If the timing of the festivals of the Lord is of no consequence then why does the historical evidence depict otherwise.  Were not the Jewish people reenacting these festivals every year? Were they to learn to conduct ‘perfect’ rituals or was it of more import that they might have insight and wisdom so that they might develop ‘eyes that can see’ and ‘ears that can hear’?  All through the ministry of Yahshua (Jesus) we see the various stages of growth and development of the talmidim (disciples) of Yahshua (Jesus).  When they later became His emissaries (apostles), they ‘knew’ and ‘understood’ and as such withstood the tests and trials and tribulations that they had to endure in their witness and testimony of their Maschiach (messiah).  Yahshua (Jesus) did not pound into them ‘ritual perfection’ but the essence of ‘knowing’. 

What about now? Does it matter for those of us living at the time of the end that the timing of the festivals is correct?  What we have learned to this date is that the Oslo Accord between the Nation of Israel and Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was exactly for seven years according to the ancient timing of the festival calendar of the Lord.  No, this would not be understood by using the calculated Jewish calendar used by orthodox and reform Jews today.  It was only understood by using the sliver of the first moon and the Aviv barley to calculate when the beginning of the festival season began on 1 Nisan.  The Oslo Accord was signed on Rosh Hashanah 1993 and was effectively voided on Rosh Hashanah 2000 when Ariel Sharon went up to the Temple Mount as the candidate for the Prime Minister and read the Gog-Magog chapter of Ezekiel and Arafat’s Intifada started on that day. 

The shadow pictures of the Fall festivals of the Lord have been known by the sages of Judaism to portray the return of the Maschiach of Israel.  For the believers in the messiahship of Yahshua (Jesus), this then suggests that a full understanding of the second coming of Yahshua is imbedded in the typology of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Succot.  It suggests that the fullness of the high priest ministry of Yahshua will be heralded by the sounding of the 7^th and final shofar of the Lord during the last trumpet and vial plaque as portrayed by the Yohannes (John) the prophet of Revelation. 

As the high priest went from the Holy Place in the tabernacle or temple into the Holy of Holiest, ten days later on Yom Kippur on the Day of Judgment so also Yahshua will enter the Holy of Holiest of the heavenly tabernacle and present to His Father, the Eternal One of Israel, the final culmination of the blood of His blood and sacrifice as the Passover (Pesach) Lamb and the sacrificial ram at Yom Kippur. He will then offer the Torah fulfillment of His ascension to heaven on the first day of the ‘waving’ of the first fruits of the barley harvest as the “first fruits of the resurrected.” The He will present His case to His Father of His ministry over the last two millenniums as the high priest after the order of Melchizedek. 

With the acceptance of His Father’s will, His atonement will be complete.  He will emerge from the Holy of Holiest not as the high priest but adorned in white as the “King of kings and the Lord of lords”.  Within the next five days, from Yom Kippur to Succot, during the brightness of the full moon, He will return to battle Satan, the forces of darkness, the anti-Maschiach (anti-Christ) and the demonic controlled forces of the Golden, Red and Black Internationale who will combine their military might to assault heavenly forces of Yahshua returning into this earth’s dimensional sphere.  There the mightiest armada and military forces of the nations of this earth will congregated in the plains of Megiddo and surrounding Jerusalem. 

May we suggest that unlocking the secrets of the fall festivals of the Lord will give the chosen remnant of the saints and the holy ones of Israel the physical and spiritual ability to ‘watch and be ready?’ 

Index for “Looking at the Death of Yahshua (Jesus) from the

Perspective of First Century Judaism”

Go to Part One –

“The Cosmic Passover Drama when Yahshua died on the Tree”

Go to Part Two –

“The Final Teachings of the Hasidic Master Yahshua HaMaschiach”

Go to Part Three –

“The Arrest and Interrogation of Rabbi Yahshua in the Palace of the High Priest”

Go to Part Four –

“The Trial of Yahshua (Jesus) before the Sanhedrin”

Go to Part Five –

“The Chief Priests and Elders that Presided in the Sanhedrin Trial”

Go to Part Six –

“The Trial Yahshua (Jesus) before the Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate”

Index for “The Divine Mission to Bring the “Good News” to the Gentiles”

Go to Part One –

“Jesus the Pharisee from the School of (Beit) Hillel” in the Eyes of Talmudic Scholar Rabbi Jacob Emden”

http://biblesearchers.com/yahshua/beithillel/emden.shtml

Letter of Rabbi Jacob Emden concerning Jesus the Nazarene -

“The Letter of Rabbi Jacob Emden, the Seder Olam Rabbah Vezuta (1757) to the Jewish Council of Four Lands”

Go to Part Two –

“Rabbi Harvey Falk studies a Talmudic scholar’s opinion on “Jesus the Nazarene the Defender of Beit Hillel (School of Hillel)”

Go to Part Three –

“The Essenes, the Hasidim and the Righteous Gentile of the Nations”

Go to Part Four –

“Jesus the Nazarene and the Pharisees of Beit Shammai”

Go to Part Five –

“The Shammaite Pharisee Shaul (Apostle Paul) and the Mission to Find the Righteous Gentiles”

Index for “The Hebrew Nazarene Ecclesia of Jerusalem”

Go to Part One

The Primitive “Apostolic” Nazarene Ecclesia

Go to Part Two

Jesus (Yahshua) and Joseph of Arimathea

Go to Part Three

The Birth of the Hebrew Nazarene Ecclesia in Jerusalem

Go to Part Four

Crisis in the Hebrew Nazarene Ecclesia –

The Sanhedrin and Rabbi Shaul are Coming

Go to Part Five

Joseph of Arimathea and the Friends of Jesus Flee to Caesarea

Go to Part Six

Final Exile of Joseph of Arimathea from Judea to the Isles of Avalon

Go to Part Seven

The Hebrew Nazarene Ecclesia after the Stoning of Stephen

Go to Part Eight

Antioch and Agrippa – The Nazarenes Evangelize the World

Go to Part Nine

The Royal Family of Caradactus and the Roman Christian Church

Go to Part Ten

The Invasion of Rome to Britain and the Exile of the Royal Silurian Family to Rome

Go to Part Eleven

Roman Senator Rufus Puden, the Palladium Britannica and the First Bishop of Rome

Go to Part Twelve

Nero’s Persecution of the Jews and the Deaths of Paul and Peter

Go to Part Thirteen

The Death, Tomb and Ossuary of James the Just brother of Jesus, the high priest of the Nazarenes

Go to Part Fourteen

Murder of James the Just and the Blood Libel of “The Jews”, the House of Ananus

Go to Part Fifteen

Symeon ben Clopus, high priest of the Nazarenes, the cousin of Jesus

Go to Part Sixteen

The Royal Davidian and Priestly Zadokian lineage of Jesus, James the Just and Simeon ben Cleopas

Go to Part Seventeen

The “Prophetic Omens” that Began on the Death of Yahshua

Forty Years before the Destruction of Jerusalem

Go to Part Eighteen

Jesus the Nazarene and the Pharisees of the School of Shammai

Go to Part Nineteen

The Excommunication of the Nazarene Christians by the Sanhedrin of Yavneh

Go to Part Twenty

The Last of the Nazarenes and the Desposyni (“The Lord’s Kin”)

Index for “Spring Jewish Festivals – Passover and Pentecost”

“Looking at the Death of Yahshua (Jesus) from the Perspective of First Century Judaism”

Go to Part One -

“The Cosmic Passover Drama when Yahshua died on the Tree”

Go to Part Two -

“The Final Teachings of the Hasidic Master Yahshua HaMaschiach”

Go to Part Three -

“The Arrest and Interrogation of Rabbi Yahshua in the Palace of the High Priest”

Go to Part Four -

“The Trial of Yahshua (Jesus) before the Sanhedrin”

Go to Part Six -

 “The Chief Priests and Elders that Presided in the Sanhedrin Trial”

Go to Part Five -

“The Trial Yahshua (Jesus) before the Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate”

“Catastrophes and the Time of the End”

Go to Part One -

Jesus’ Death, the Earthquake and the Omens to ‘The Jews’

Go to Part Two -

The Earthquake and the Restoration of “The Land”

Go to Part Three -

The Great Earthquake and Clues to the Restoration of Paradise

“Looking backwards to the Redemption during the Exodus – Looking forward to the Restoration by the Messiah”

Go to Part One -

“Jesus (Yahshua) as the Passover (Pesach) Lamb”

Go to Part Two -

“The Prophetic Implications of the Passover, and the Hebrew Festival Cycle”

When does the First Month of Nissan (Aviv) Begin?

News Moons and Barley - Preparation for the Festival Seasons of the Lord  

The Epic Drama on the Passion of The Christ

“The Passion and The Christ” – A Two Edged Sword

Message from BibleSearchers

BibleSearcher scans the world for information that has relevance on the time of the end and can allow the believers in the Almighty One of Israel to “watch and be ready”.  Our readiness has nothing to do trying to halt the progression of evil or good on our planet earth but to be prepared for the coming of the Messiah of Israel. Our preparation is a pathway of spiritual readiness.  Our defense is with the Lord of hosts. The time of the end suggests that the Eternal One of Israel’s intent is to close out the chapter of this earth’s history so that the perpetrators of evil, those that seek power, greed and control, will be eliminated from this planet earth.  The wars of the heavens are being played out on this planet earth of which humans on this earth will live through it to testify of the might, power, justice and the love of the God of Israel.  In a world of corruption and disinformation, we cannot always tell who is telling the truth or who is spreading lies, promoting evil or mis-information.  We cannot guarantee our sources but will always seek to portray trends that can be validated in the testimony of the prophets of the Old and the New Testament.

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