Tuesday, June 9, 2009

If our calendar didn't exist when Jesus died, then when did he die?

Think about it! If our calendar didn't exist when Jesus was here on earth. When did he die? When was he buried? When did he rise from the grave? And why do I even care?

Well, for one, I remember when I was a kid being so utterly confused by scripture and how it was "explained" to me by preachers and Sunday School teachers. For example:
Matt 12:40, For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth


Jesus was supposed to be in the grave 3 days and 3 nights. So if he died on Good Friday and rose on Easter Sunday....no matter how I did the math, I never got 3 days and 3 nights.

Friday - day 1 starts
Friday night -- night 1
Saturday - night 1 ends, day 2 starts
Saturday night, Night 2
Sunday morning, night 2 ends, day 3 begins.

So if He rose on Sunday morning.......

where did night 3 go? See the problem I had???

If we did not have a Gregorian calendar and only a Hebrew calendar, then we have to consider these facts:

Hebrew days end at sunset. The next day begins one minute after sunset.

The sabbath begins 1 minute after sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday.

The word "dawn" doesn't need to mean daybreak, first light. It can mean a new day, something new, so it could easily mean a new day that begins at sunset, the dawn of a new day. On a Hebrew calendar, each new day begins 1 minute after sunset. Hmmmm....dawn is dusk!!!

What if in the time of Jesus, 3 days and 3 nights meant 72 hours exactly? Literally?

John 19:31. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day) besoughtPilate that theirlegs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.


So the next thing we need to know is that a sabbath day that is a high (holy) day can be any day of the week. It does not have to be on a Friday night to Saturday night time frame. Because it is a "high day" it can be any day of the week.

Thus we know that the day that Jesus died, that evening one minute after sunset, a sabbath that was a high (holy) day was beginning.

We also know that the day following Passover is known to be a High Holy Day Sabbath - an annual High Sabbath, not a routine, weekly Saturday sabbath. It is the first day of the 7 day long Feast of Unleavened Bread. Passover is not a high holy day. The day after it is.

If Passover is on Thursday (Wednesday dust to Thursday dusk)
And a High Holy Day Sabbath is on Friday (Thurs dusk to Friday dusk)
And a routine weekly Sabbath is on Saturday (Friday dust to Saturday dusk)

Take a look at

Matthew 28: 1 Inside the tail-end of a Saturday Sabbath, at the going doewn (dusk) of the sun, as time changed from the final moment of an old week, onward to the first moment of an entirely new week, at sunset, came Mary of Magdala and the other Mary walking toward the tomb to look at the sepulchre at the very beginning of a Hebrew's Sunday.

2. and there was a great earthquake: for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door of the tomb and sat upon the stone.


that translation is from the Literal Expanded Version (LEV) which is a little more descriptive for these verses. But even if you read it in the King James and understand that the dawn of a new week would begin for the Hebrew calendar on Saturday evening at dusk......

Let's try this:

In the Hebrew year 3791, Passover was on the 14th day of the Hebrew 1st month, on a Wednesday, so it started on Tuesday, one minute after dusk and went til Wed. evening at dusk. (this is our year CE 31.)

I'm inserting a calendar that I put together here, just click on it to enlarge it:

















Jesus had the "Last Supper" after dusk on Tuesday night. This was on Passover. So it really was a Sedar, His last Sedar.

Death occurred in the morning on Wednesday (still Passover).

Burial was completed at sunset, at the very end of the Hebrew calendar's Wednesday. One minute after dusk, the High Holy Day began. Thursday, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Death in the grave began here. (from one minute after sunset on our Wednesday to sunset on our Thursday.)

All of Hebrew's Friday (from one minute after sunset on our Thursday to sunset on our Friday)

All of Hebrew's Saturday (from one minute after sunset on our Friday until sunset on our Saturday).

3 days. 72 hours.

The resurrection was at one minute after sunset our Saturday which would be the first moment of a Hebrew Sunday. The dawn (beginning) of a new week, the dawn of a new day.

The Feast of First Fruits is the Sunday following Passover. (Note, this is the day that you add 50 days to and come up with the date of Pentecost.)

Jesus rose on the first moment on the Feast of First Fruits.

Passover would have been on April 24, 31 (Wednesday) the day that Jesus Christ was crucified.

He would have risen at sunset on Saturday, April 27, 31 if you want our calendar dates.

So much for my attendance at all those Sunday morning sunrise services!

One more thing to consider. The Feast of Passover is a 7 day feast which commemorates the night when (in Egypt) each Israelite family killed a selected lamb, painted it's blood on the intel and door-posts of their dwellings, roasted the lamb, prepared to depart Egypt before eating, ate the lamb in haste with bitter herbs and unleavened bread, were protected from death of their first born males by the lamb's blood and actually began the journey to depart from Egypt very early the next morning (still Passover day)

It would make sense that Jesus died on Passover. He is the lamb who's blood was shed for us. He IS Passover.

And it makes beautiful sense that he rose on the Feast of First Fruits.

If Jesus was born in BCE4 and was 30 when he was baptized (CE28), he would have been 33 1/2 by early Spring, CE 31.

On a bit of a side note, Easter has been around about 5000 years. And in the year CE31, it occurred 25 days BEFORE Passover!!! A tad difficult to rise from the dead before you die!

I remember asking where in the Bible it talked about "Good Friday" or used the term "Easter". You know, I was a child. They just blew me off!

Today, I understand that the concept of Good Friday is a myth and actually has no basis in Biblical fact. Easter is a pagan, heathen, springtime fertility festival. That's why they are NOT mentioned in scripture. Whether you agree with that or not, I don't see how you get an early morning Sunday sunrise out of this verse:

Matt 28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.


That verse clearly states "end of sabbath" which would be at dusk.

Because I am studying the Hebrew calendar, because I am studying Hebrew life, traditions, holidays, values, and because I am looking at the original Greek and Hebrew scriptures - it is all making sense and falling into place.

But I also pray every single day that Jehovah Yeshua Messiah will soften my heart, open my mind, and allow me to understand. It is because so many of my friends continue to ask me about my beliefs that I am writing these blogs. In the hopes that you, too, will understand.

I do not celebrate Easter as it has nothing to do with the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Easter bunny does not come here. There are no eggs hidden anywhere.

I do, however, keep Passover. And I will continue to keep it every year.

I do not celebrate Christmas. There is no tree in my house, no gifts. Santa doesn't come down my chimney and there are no holly and berries here.

I honor Hanukkah - the Feast of Dedication

and I will keep the Feast of Tabernacles this year.

As I come to understand more and more.....and have more of those childhood questions answered, I come to love the Messiah as I never have before. My heart literally sings with joy.

So there's still that question........

why do we no longer use a Hebrew calendar? Just who is it that does not want us to know the truth? Who is it that is trying to confuse us. I know. And I'll be writing about that one day soon.







A visual view for my blog on the calendar problems

Click anywhere to make it larger



Note: While the word "conception" is used in this chart - it in no way means that Jesus was in Mary's body from that moment on. It simply means that Mary's body was preparing a place for Jesus to enter just before the birth.

If we changed the calendar, are our dates all wrong???

Have you ever wondered about our calendar? Do you ever wonder why the Hebrew calendar starts with day 1 and continues to the present, but "our" calendar had a break between AD & BC and one counts forward while the other counts backwards? I know, I was told that you count forward from the time Jesus was born and count back before his birth. But WHY?????

And if the first day of the week is Sunday and G-d said to keep the 7th day holy, why do we have church of any kind on Sunday?

And if Easter is the resurrection "anniversary" - why does the date change every year? Shouldn't it be on the same day every year regardless of what day of the week that is? I mean, seriously, I don't celebrate September 29th, my birthday, on Sunday every year.....I honor it on the actual day of the week that it falls on!

And if we KNOW the day that Elisabeth got pregnant with John the Baptist and we KNOW that Jesus was conceived 6 months later.....HOW could he possibly have been born on December 25?

Finally, remember the Christmas carols? Shepherds watching over their flock by night??? Ummmm...it's a tad cold in December is Bethlehem with snow and frost. I seriously doubt anyone is out watching the sheep at night!!!

Yep, I was a problem in Sunday School years ago and I've not been too good with religious discussions ever since. So, today is the day....if it takes me the next 48 hours to get this down in writing - I am going to get it done!!!

I'm going to use a Hebrew calendar and you need to stick with me because I think this is one of the most amazing things ever...and you just won't find it in church, but you WILL find it in your Bible and I will show you how!!!

But most of all, I always wondered about Christmas.

I'm going to start with a look at the Hebrew calendar:

  1. Nisan is the 1st month. Has 30 days. Equates to our Mar/Apr. Passover is the 15th of Nisan
  2. Lyar is the 2nd month. It has 29 days, Equates to our Apr/May
  3. Sivan is the 3rd month. Has 30 days, equal to our May/June. the 6th of Sivan is Pentecost, aka Shauvot
  4. Tammuz is the 4th month. Has 29 days, equal to our Jun/Jul
  5. Av is the 5th month, has 30 days, occurs in our Jul/Aug
  6. Elul is the 6th month, has 29 days, happens in our Aug/Sep
  7. Tishri is the 7th month, has 30 days, happens in our Sep/Oct. Sukkot occurs around the 15th of Tishri
  8. Cheshvan is the 8th month, has 29/30 days, equates to our Oct/Nov
  9. Kislev is the 9th month, has 29/30 days, equates to Nov/Dec. Hanukkah occurs this month
  10. Tevet is the 10th month, has 29 days, is our Dec/Jan
  11. Shevat is the 11th month, has 30 days, equates to Jan/Feb
  12. Adar is the 12th month, has 29 days, equals our Feb/Mar

So then take a look at these Hebrew feasts:

14 Nisan  is Passover
15 Nisan   is a 7 Day Feast of Unleavened Bread

add 50 days and that takes you to:

Shavu’ot (Pentecost) (the next day is the 10th Week of routine priestly services)

add 6 months and that takes you to
15 Tishri which is Suk’kot, 7 day feast of Tabernacles (or Ingathering)

27 weeks after Passover is

15 Kislev – which is the 7 day Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah)

Stick with me because I hope to show you that the Bible tells us the following time table:

So now, let's turn to scripture:


Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife [was] of the daughters of Aaron, and her name [was] Elisabeth.

*Zacharias was ministering in the Hebrew's Jerusalem Temple, during the Aaronic Ministration of the prietly family of Abia (Abijah)

Luke 1:8:And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,


**this order of priests routinely ministered in the Temple in the 8th familial course, during the 9th week of the Hebrew year

* *the 9th week includes the last few days of the second Hebrew month (Lyar) and the first few days of the 3rd Hebrew month (Sivan) and is the week before Pentecost - the Feast of Shavu'ot

Shavu'ot requires ALL 24 priestly families to be in attendance at the Jerusalem temple on that day.

Luke 1:23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.


He went home right after Pentecost


Luke 1:24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,


**(Elizabeth got pregnant the day after Pentecost)




Luke 1:26: And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

Luke 1:31: And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.


It was at the end of the 6th month of Elisabeth's pregnancy that the angel appeared to Mary and told her that Elisabeth was pregnant, and that she, Mary would soon conceive




Luke 1:39: And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda
* Mary immediately traveled to Elisabeth's



Luke 1:43: And whence [is] this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?


* this indicates that Mary was already pregnant as Elisabeth called her the mother of my lord

there are 27 weeks between the end of the priestly course of Abijah and the first day of Hannukkah which is celebrated for eight days. There are 14 weeks from the first day of Hanukkah to Passover. That's a total of 41 weeks - a normal pregnancy period.

from the above calendar, we can see that if John was conceived at Penetcost, 6 months later would be Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication. What a perfect time for Jesus to be conceived.

John the Baptist was born at Passover. He was circumcised on the 8th day, which would have been the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Remember, Passover is in Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew year.


Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.


Jesus birth would have come 6 months after John the Baptist, which would put it in the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar - Tishri. Which is the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot.

I have been studying Sukkot for some time now. Another 7 day feast. The first day is a high holy day and requires the family to make a pilgrimage. Joseph and Mary would have gone to Bethlehem for this feast. There would have been crowds. They build booths during this festival that are temporary, they are called sukkah which means booth or tabernacle and dwell (live) in them during this festival. At the end of the feast, they are torn down.

In these booths, food was placed in a food crib for storage (which the King James has translated "manger".)

So, most likely, Jesus wasn't born in a stable and placed in a manger. He was born in a temporary tabernacle and placed in a food crib (because he was the Bread of Life from heaven?)

I have been to Israel. I have been to Bethlehem. Even to this day, any kind of stable would be unsanitary and I doubt either mother or child would have survived.

Besides, I much prefer the image of my Messiah being born in a temporary tabernacle - it just seems fitting.

The very night after his birth, Joseph and Mary fled with him to the closest part of Egypt. Today's Gaza? Jesus would have been circumsised on the 8th day, a special Sabbath (no matter what day of the week it fell on.)

G-d provided 2 Holy Feasts/Festivals that both lasted 7 days, and they are 6 months apart. While called 7 days, they each have a component that causes them to last for 8 days overall.

The Feast of Unleavend Bread (7 days) is preceeded by Passover.

The Feast of Tabernacles (7 days) is followed by the separate 8th day Sabbath.

Allowing both John the Baptist and Jesus to be born and circumcised within the holiday period.

Going back to a Hebrew calendar, it has been stated that Jesus was born Tishre 15, 3758.   Because the Hebrew calendar is based on the Moon while our calendar is based on the sun, even though His birth is on the same Hebraic calendar each year, it will fluxuate on our calendar and occur on a different day on our calendar.

Our modern "Gregorian" calendar did NOT exist when Jesus was born. So on our calendar, his date of birth is October 4, BC4.

It is written that one day, all nations will honor the Feast of Tabernacles:


Zec 14:16 And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.


Zec 14:17 And it shall be, [that] whoso will not come up of [all] the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.


And now I know why we are to keep this feast - because it is the real birthday of the King of Kings.

CHRISTMAS IS NOT THE BIRTHDAY OF JESUS CHRIST!!!

Christmas is nothing short of a pagan holiday brought about by a mergence of pagan traditions, folklore and myths. Google it!

Why, why, why and how did our current day so called christian religions get so completely and totally turned around???

I hope to have  a post about that in the near future.

In the meantime, think about this. Chart it out. Buy a Hebrew calendar or find one online. Look at the dates. How amazingly beautiful to think that the Messiah was conceived on the Feast of Dedication....and that He was born on Sukkot - the Feast of Tabernacles. In a temporary tabernacle, and placed in a food crib because He is the Bread of Life.