Pentecost

God’s Calendar

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs and will mark religious festivals, days, and years.
(Genesis 1:4, God’s Word Translation)

God’s Calendar – Introduction

Like most Messianic disciples I always believed the Hebrew lunisolar calendar the Jewish religion uses was God’s calendar. After all, they’ve been using it for thousands of years. But, while driving home after eight days of Sukkot camping I listened to Dr. Michael Heiser’s podcast teaching on Revelation chapter 11. Paraphrasing, he concluded that:

‘If you want to understand the numbers in Daniel (i.e., 1260, 1290, 1335, 2300) you must use the Zadokite solar calendar. It’s the only calendar that fits.’

Until I heard this statement I’d never seriously questioned the validity of the traditional Hebrew lunisolar calendar. A few months ago someone mentioned the Enoch solar calendar, but after looking into it I quickly dismissed it because it didn’t keep the weekly Sabbath day on Saturday, the 7^th Day… I wondered how the Zadokite solar calendar was different.

Of course, I know of many minor lunar calendar disputes that constantly brew within Jewish/Messianic communities. For example, in my local fellowship there is a discussion concerning what constitutes the new moon?

Is the new moon when the moon totally disappears at conjunction? Or,
Is the new moon when the first sliver is sighted by two witnesses?
The answer determines when each month begins, which controls the dates for Passover, Pentecost, Atonement, etc., on the lunar calendar.

And so, Dr. Heiser’s statement was revolutionary, a potential paradigm shift, sending me on an investigative journey that resulted in this article.

The result of my investigation is that I’m now convinced the solar Zadokite calendar is God’s calendar.

From Noah’s flood in 2348 BC until Antiochus IV Epiphanes (who is the prototype for the final Antichrist) changed it in 167 BC, the evidence clearly proves (to me) the Zadokite calendar was the calendar of God’s covenant people.
If that’s true, it is still the calendar God uses—regardless of whether mankind uses it or not.

Ancient Witnesses to God’s Solar Calendar

Here is the body of evidence that convinced me God’s calendar is the solar Zadokite calendar. This evidence is from Genesis, Daniel, Enoch, Jubilees, Solomon’s Temple, and the Dead Sea Scrolls showing (explicit and inferred) proofs that—for thousands of years—YHWH’s ancient disciples used a solar 364-day calendar…not a lunar 354-day calendar.

Genesis

The Book of Genesis says the flood waters prevailed 150 days over exactly five months. Since the lunar calendar has both 29 and 30-day months, it won’t tally 150 days in five months. Therefore, we can deduce from Genesis that Noah used a solar calendar with 5 months of thirty days each. Here are the details:

The rain started on the 17^th day of the 2^nd month. (Genesis 7:11)
The waters prevailed on the earth for 150 days. (Genesis 7:24)
After 150 days the waters had gone down. On the 17^th day of the 7^th month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. (Genesis 8:3-4)

Daniel

Dr. Michael Heiser states that to understand the prophetic numbers in Daniel (i.e., 1260, 1290, 1335, etc.) you must use the Zadokite solar calendar. Heiser states, ‘If you want to make sense of the numbers, historically and eschatalogically, the only way it makes sense within a Jewish/Old Testament/Second Temple Jewish context is if you use this calendar.’ NB-381 Transcript, see page 13
Dr. Michael Heiser (MH) quotes Dr. Boccaccini, “Daniel 7:25 blames the iniquitous king, Antiochus Epiphanes, for “changing times” in Temple worship. According to A. Jaubert and J. C. VanderKam [MH: who are two experts on this chronology], this marks the occasion on which the Hellenistic lunar calendar definitively replaced the old Zadokite solar calendar, which Jubilees and [MH: the people at] Qumran would seek in vain to restore after the Maccabean revolt. (The Book of Daniel, Composition and Reception, Vol II, Pg 311)

1 Enoch

Blessed are all the righteous, blessed are all those who walk in the way of righteousness and sin not as the sinners, in the reckoning of all their days in which the sun traverses the heaven, entering into and departing the portals for thirty days, with the heads of thousands of the order of the stars, together with the four which are intercalated, which divide the four portions of the year, which lead them and enter with them four days.

Owing to them men shall be at fault and not reckon them in the whole reckoning of the year: yea, men shall be at fault, and not recognize them accurately.

For they belong to the reckoning of the year and are truly recorded (thereon) for ever, one in the first portal and one in the third, and one in the fourth and one in the sixth, and the year is completed in three hundred and sixty-four days. (1 Enoch 82:4-6)

Note: A solar calendar produces a 364-day year, while a lunar calendar produces a 354-day year. Therefore, the reference to 364 above is solar, and 354 (“ten days too soon” in the following ‘Book of Jubilees’ quote) is lunar.

Jubilees

“And all the children of Israel will forget, and will not find the path of the years, and will forget the new moons, and seasons, and sabbaths, and they will go wrong as to all the order of the years. For I know and from henceforth shall I declare it unto thee, and it is not of my own devising; for the book (lieth) written before me, and on the heavenly tables the division of days is ordained, lest they forget the feasts of the covenant and walk according to the feasts of the Gentiles after their error and after their ignorance. For there will be those who will assuredly make observations of the moon–now (it) disturbeth the seasons and cometh in from year to year ten days too soon.

For this reason, the years will come upon them when they will disturb (the order) and make an abominable (day) the day of testimony, and an unclean day a feast day, and they will confound all the days, the holy with the unclean, and the unclean day with the holy; for they will go wrong as to the months and sabbaths and feasts and jubilees. For this reason, I command and testify to thee that thou mayest testify to them; for after thy death thy children will disturb (them), so that they will not make the year three hundred and sixty-four days only, and for this reason they will go wrong as to the new moons and seasons and sabbaths and festivals, and they will eat all kinds of blood with all kinds of flesh.” (Jubilees 6:34-38)

Solomon’s Temple Designed for God’s Calendar

The Jewish Talmud tells us Solomon architected YHWH’s temple to reveal the exact times of the sun’s equinoxes and solstices at Jerusalem. This is because the vernal (spring) equinox controls the beginning of the year on the Zadokite calendar.

“The East Gate into the temple used to be called the Sun Gate or Sunrise Gate. The Sun Gate was used to record the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Before the exile into Babylon, it was held to be of imperative necessity that on two days of the year the sun shone directly through the Eastern Gate and through all the Eastern Gates of the Temple arranged in a line, directly into the very heart of the Temple proper. The Eastern Gate, also called the Sun Gate, served not only to check the equinoxes, when the sun rises exactly in the east, but the solstices as well: a device on the Eastern Gate was designed to reflect the first rays of the sun on the summer and winter solstices, when the sun rises in the southeast and the northeast respectively.”
The Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Erubim 22c

Dead Sea Scrolls

“The Qumran sect believed that God had entrusted them with the innermost secrets of the structure of the universe, including the secret of the true calendar and the exact dates of the festivals. They used a solar calendar, with the year consisting of 364 days. It was divided into twelve months of thirty days, with the exception of the third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth months, which had thirty-one days each. According to this calendar, the festivals always fell on the same day of the week: Passover on a Wednesday, the Festival of Weeks of a Sunday, and the Day of Atonement on a Friday.” (Pg34, The Bible in the Shrine of the Book, From the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Aleppo Codex, Adolfo Roitman, The Israeli Museum, Jerusalem, 2006.)
“The lunar calendar, which Judaism follows to this day, requires a large number of human decisions. People must look at the stars and moon and report on their observations, and someone must be empowered to decide on the new month and the application of leap years. By contrast, the 364-day calendar was perfect,” they write in the Journal of Biblical Literature. “Because this number can be divided into four and seven, special occasions always fall on the same day. This avoids the need to decide, for example, what happens when a particular occasion falls on the Sabbath, as often happens in the lunar calendar. The Qumran calendar is unchanging, and it appears to have embodied the beliefs of the members of this community regarding perfection and holiness.” (TheGuardian, 26 Jan 2018)
The Zadokite calendar was ‘the official temple calendar up to the Maccabean period.’ (The Book of Daniel, Composition and Reception, Vol II, Pg 326)
Dr. Heiser said, “Do you realize that the calendar used today by Judaism (the lunar calendar) was viewed as an apostate, awful thing by the Jews who wrote Jubilees and who lived at Qumran (the Essenes) and the book of Enoch as well. Those are solar calendars. And those are the calendars they believed originated at the time of creation. Everything else was an inferior system…This is what led to the split that created the Qumran community. This was a big deal for them. Because now you’re using a human calendar, one that you have to adjust by arbitrarily adding a month every now and then, as opposed to God’s perfect mathematical calendar. This is an abomination. They never won that fight…Antiochus Epiphanes “changes the times” in the temple worship. They go back to the lunar calendar. They replace the solar calendar.” (NB-381 Transcript, see pages 8-9)

A Dead Sea Scroll in Jerusalem’s ‘Shrine of the Book’ Museum

Book of Revelation

Dr. Heiser said, “The only ancient text that explicitly elaborates on the figure of Daniel [MH: this numerical figure] is the Revelation of John, and it is strikingly straightforward. The time of persecution is a period of “42 months” [MH: Revelation] (11:2; 13:5), or [MH: it’s described as] “1,260 days” (11:3; 12:6), or “a time, two times and a half time” (12:14).

According to the book of Revelation, therefore, Daniel would have known a solar calendar of twelve 30-day months, which makes a year of 360 days. In fact, such a calendar allows us to establish a sensible relationship among the three calendrical references in Daniel 12. A consistent and proportioned series links the “half week” (1,260 days) to the 1,290 days ([MH: by virtue of] the addition of one 30-day month), which in turn becomes 1,335 days with the further addition of one 30-day month and a half [MH: 30-day month]. (NB-381 Transcript, see page 10)

HOW Israel Transitioned from God’s Solar Calendar to a Lunar Calendar

In view of the clear evidence that the Zadokite solar calendar was (and is still) God’s calendar, what caused the Jewish religion to change from the solar calendar to a lunar calendar?

Overview of the Jewish Transition from Solar to Lunar Calendar

Onias III was the last faithful high priest in Israel. He was a son of Zadok, descended from both Aaron and Levi. His tenure ended in 175 BC.
When the gentile Antiochus Epiphanes assumed Seleucid rulership over Israel in 175 BC, he replaced Onias III with Onias’ brother Jason. Unlike Onias, Jason was a hellenist who favored Greek culture.
Within three years Antiochus replaced Jason with the totally corrupt Menelaus, of the tribe of Benjamin, who sold precious temple vessels to purchase the position of high priest. He then murdered Onias III after Onias exposed him.
- Antiochus and Menelaus changed the calendar from solar to lunar (The Book of Daniel, Composition and Reception, Vol II, Pg 326)
- In 167 BC Antiochus defiled the temple with pig blood, erected a statue of Zeus, forbade the Sabbath, circumcision, etc.
- These abominations caused the Maccabean revolt, which the Maccabees won
Following their victory over Antiochus in 164 BC, hellenist Jewish leaders compromised with their Seleucid (Greek) rulers by (1) keeping Menelaus as high priest, and (2) keeping the Gentiles’ lunar calendar.
- As a result of this compromise, from 167 BC until today the Jewish religion still uses the lunar calendar.
From Menelaus (172 BC) until the Romans destroyed the temple in 70 AD, Gentile rulers sold the high priesthood to the highest bidder.
The Jewish religion is without temple or priests since 70 AD, fulfilling Yeshua’s prophesy, “Your house is left unto you desolate.”

Details of the Jewish Transition from Solar to Lunar Calendar

This section expands on the summary version above, providing more details and dates.

Onias III, 199-175 BC

Before Antiochus Epiphanes became king, Onias III was the last faithful Aaronic ‘son of Zadok’ to serve as Jewish high priest. Second Maccabees chapter 4 chronicles the betrayal and intrigue of his downfall.

Jason, 175-172 BC

In 175 BC, the new Seleucid ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes, forced Onias III to yield his office to Jason, his brother. Jason was a hellenist sympathizer who only occupied the position three years until 172 BC, when Menelaus deceptively ousted him.

“Jason forthwith brought his own nation to Greekish fashion.”
2 Maccabees 4:10

Antiochus IV Epiphanes, 175-163 BC

After more than 7 years as ruler over the Jews, in 167 BC the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes did two things: he

Desecrated the Jewish temple in an ‘abomination of desolation,’ and he
Changed the Jewish calendar from solar to lunar, thereby changing God’s moedim–His ‘appointed times.’ (1 Maccabees 1:41-50)

Antiochus polluted the temple with pig’s blood on God’s altar and erecting a statue of Zeus, whose face resembled Antiochus’ own likeness. Antiochus also outlawed circumcision and Sabbath observance, making violations punishable by death.

These abominations resulted in the Maccabean revolt in 166 BC. The Maccabees finally defeated Antiochus’ army, cleansing and rededicating the temple in 164 BC.

According to 2 Maccabees 5:14-15, Antiochus (guided by Menelaus) killed 80,000 Jews and sold 80,000 others into slavery.

Antiochus Epiphanes died horribly in 164 BC, with every bone broken in a chariot accident and his flesh swarming with worms.

Menelaus, 172-161 BC

In 172 BC Antiochus put the high priest’s office up for auction and Menelaus, a Benjaminite, outbid Jason, deposing him as high priest.

Menelaus didn’t have the money he bid for this sacred office, so he stole sacred temple vessels to raise the sum he needed.

When Onias III heard of this, he publicly accused Menelaus of robbing the temple. To quiet him, Menelaus sent assassins who killed Onias III.

Menelaus was high priest during the Maccabean revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes.

According to II Maccabees, Menelaus is responsible for persuading Antiochus to hellenize Jewish worship, including changing the Jewish calendar from solar to lunar in 167 BC.

After the Jewish Maccabee victory over Antiochus and the recapture of Jerusalem in 164 BC, Maccabean leaders made a political decision to keep the corrupt Menelaus as high priest in the restored and cleansed Jewish temple.

“Despite their firm opposition to the Hellenists, the Maccabees retained the newly-introduced lunar calendar.” (The Book of Daniel, Composition and Reception, Vol II, Pg 327)

The corrupt Menelaus occupied the high priest office for 11 years, from 172 BC until his execution by Antiochus’ successor in 161 BC.

Divided Jewry, from 164 BC to 73 AD

Following the Jewish Maccabees’ victory over Antiochus in 164 BC, Jewish leaders compromised with their Seleucid rulers, keeping the lunar calendar. This compromise caused a split between Hellenistic and traditional Jewish religious groups.

Hellenist Jews mixed Greek culture with Jewish traditions. As a result, they adopted the lunar calendar, liberalized Torah observance, elevated ‘oral traditions,’ and cancelled God’s requirement that high priests be descendants of Aaron, i.e., Menelaus.
In contrast, traditional Jewish leaders believed in keeping the solar calendar, following the Torah, and restricting the priesthood to the sons of Levi/Zadok.
- But, with Judah under Seleucid rulership, this party lacked any political support to exist.
- As a result, they left Jerusalem, ‘shaking the dust from their feet’ to form a monastic community in the desert wilderness at Qumran.
- In Qumran the ‘Zadokites’ saw themselves as the ‘sons of Zadok’ in Ezekiel’s apocalyptic temple prophecy.

The ‘Sons of Zadok’ Prophecy in Ezekiel

The Zadokites in Qumran considered the Hellenists in Jerusalem to be apostate from YHWH, while they considered themselves to be the prophetic ‘sons of Zadok’ in Ezekiel’s prophecy.

The prophet Ezekiel lived 400 years before the events of 167 BC. Within his end-time temple ministries Ezekiel prophesied explicitly about apostate priests versus the sons of Zadok, “who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me.” (Ezekiel 44:15)

About the apostate priests Ezekiel wrote:

Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and ministering there. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and stand before them to minister to them.
Because they ministered before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I swore with an uplifted hand concerning them that they would bear the consequences of their iniquity, declares the Lord GOD. They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed.
Ezekiel 44:10-13

Ezekiel then proceeded, writing:

But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD. They alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge…In regard to their inheritance, I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.
Ezekiel 44:15-16, 28

The Zadokites in Qumran applied Ezekiel’s ‘sons of Zadok’ prophecy to themselves, believing the Jerusalem hellenizers were “the Levites who wandered away from YHWH.”

The Zadokites dwelt in Qumran more than 100 years, until the Romans destroyed their community between 68-73 AD.

The Jewish Religion from 73 AD to Today

For more than 1800 years after the Romans destroyed the Qumran community (until a boy discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1946) the world forgot everything about the Zadokites’ beliefs, their writings, and God’s calendar.

In the meantime, since 167 BC all Jewish religious sects continue using the lunar calendar. That is, each month starts with a ‘new moon’ and when this calendar gets ‘out of sync’ with the four seasons a 13^th month is added to compensate.

The Bible, Talmud, Mishnah, etc.

As Winston Churchill famously said, “History is written by the victors.”

Regarding God’s calendar, the historical victors (so far) are the proponents of Hellenistic Judaism.

The Zadokites fled from Jerusalem in 167 BC, becoming a marginalized Jewish sect in the desert under the Seleucids. Then, the Romans completely destroyed them around 67-73 AD and they disappeared from history—until a boy discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1946.
Meanwhile, Hellenistic Judaism continued in the Jerusalem temple under the Seleucids and then the Romans, until the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and exiled surviving Jews from their land in 70 AD. But, even as exiles among the nations for almost two millennia, their version of Hellenistic Judaism still survives today.

Therefore, since before the Pharisees and Sadducees existed, and 1600 years before Gothenburg invented the printing press, the world has only known the Hellenistic version of Judaism—which uses the Gentiles’ lunar calendar.

Fast forward to today… all Jewish and Christian writers, Bible translators, and publishers assume the Jewish religion’s 2100-year-old lunar calendar is correct. Since it’s so ancient, all our Bible translations and seminaries have this perspective.

What is God’s Calendar?

This section briefly describes the Zadokite calendar and its benefits. Use the hyperlinked resources at the end of this article for more-detailed study.

Description

In the Zadokite calendar the year always contains 364 days.
Each year consists of twelve months of thirty days each, plus four additional days, one of which is intercalated (added, inserted) at the end of each three-month period.
- For example, the first and second months are 30 days long, while the third month totals 31 days; then the pattern repeats.
- Each three-month period is 91 days long.
- Four 91-day quarters combine in a 364 day year.
New Year’s Day and the first day of each quarter always falls on a Wednesday.
- Wednesday is the day mandated as the first day by the creation order, since the heavenly lights – sun, moon and stars, the basis of all calendars – were created on the fourth day (Gen. 1:14-19).
A particular day of any given month will always fall on the same day of the week every year.
Festivals occur on the same day each year, and never on a (Saturday) Sabbath, thereby avoiding conflicts about sacrifices.

Benefits

A great advantage of the Zadokite solar calendar over the lunar calendar is that it results in fixed dates for the major festivals.
This calendar guarantees that a particular day of any given month will always fall on the same day of the week every year.
The 364-day year is divisible by 7, which fits God’s pattern of time keeping.
- God created the heavens and earth in 7 days
- 7 days x 52 weeks = 364 days in a year
- 7 years in a shmitah period
- 7 x 7 years in a 49-year Jubilee cycle
- There are 7000 years in God’s plan for this creation (2 Peter 3:8)

God’s Calendar Template

Sabbath Days on God’s Calendar

In God’s calendar the 7^th-day Sabbath repeats on the same days each year. For example, in the diagram below read across from left to right to see the red Sabbath dates are the same in months 1, 4, 7, and 10. Then, read across to find the blue dates are the same on months 2, 5, 8, and 11, and they’re the same for green months 3, 6, 9, and 12.

You can verify this pattern in the calendar template on the next page.

Image from Part 1 of the Asherit Dead Sea Scrolls video series

Since God created the sun, moon and stars on the 4^th day of creation, the Zadokite solar calendar starts on the 4^th day of the week (Wednesday) after the spring equinox.

Sorry for the small text; please zoom-in to see the details more clearly.

Download calendar at https://zadokway.com/calendar

‘Appointed Times’ on God’s Calendar

God’s appointed times (see Leviticus 23) are highlighted in yellow or green in the template above. These appointed times occur on the same days each year:

Passover – 14^th of 1^st month
Unleavened Bread – 15^th to 21^st of the 1^st month
Firstfruits of Barley – 26^th of 1^st month
Shavuot or Pentecost (firstfruits of wheat) – 15^th of 3^rd month
Trumpets – 1^st of 7^th month
Day of Atonements – 15^th of 7^th month
Sukkot (Tabernacles) – 15^th to 21^st of 7^th month, and the 8^th Day on the 22^nd of 7^th month

Resolving My Own Arguments Against the Solar Zadokite Calendar

Before accepting the Zadokite solar calendar as God’s calendar I had to overcome these three major objections.

1. Doesn’t the Bible talk about the new moon, including a new moon celebration?

Here are the only verses that mention “new moon.” Quotes are from the Aramaic Bible in Plain English:

Numbers 10:10 And in the day of your joy and of your meetings and of the beginnings of your months, sound with the trumpets for your burnt offerings and for your peace offerings and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God; I AM YHWH your God.”
Isaiah 1:13 You shall not continue to bring to me worthless savor offerings. It is disgusting to me. At the first of the months and on the Sabbath you assemble an assembly.
1 Chronicles 23:31 And to offer up sacrifices to YHWH on the Sabbaths, and on the first of the months, and at feasts by their number, according to what is right for them constantly before YHWH.
2 Chronicles 2:4 Even now I am building a house for the name of YHWH my God, to hallow it and to bring before him censers of sweet incense and to light a lamp constantly, and to bring sacrifices at dawn and in the evening, and on the Sabbaths in the first of the month, and at the feasts of YHWH our God for eternity; this they decreed for all Israel.
2 Chronicles 31:3 And the King gave some of his slaughtered ones, sacrifices of oxen of the dawn and of the evening, and offerings of Sabbaths and of the beginning of the month, and of the feasts, and he spoke to the people just as it is written in the Torah of YHWH.
Nehemiah 10:33 For the bread of the offering, for the continual offering and for the continual sacrifice of the Sabbaths, and of the beginning of months, and of the feasts, and of holy things, and of the forgiveness of the sin of Israel, and all the work of the house of our God.

I chose quotes from the Aramaic Bible in Plain English because it consistently translates ‘new moon” to mean the 1^st day of the month, or the 1^st day of the year, without any reference to the moon. Here are the underlined portions from the six references above:

the beginnings of your months
the first of the months
the first of the months
the first of the month
the beginning of the month
the beginning of months

The Hebrew word chodesh can either mean moon or month, so most translators assume that more than 2100 years of rabbinic tradition is correct when they choose to translate chodesh as ‘new moon’ instead of ‘beginning of the month.’

As you see on the image below, the Hebrew word for moon ‘yarach’ isn’t found anywhere in the Hebrew manuscripts where it says, “new moon.”

Also, the image below shows another possibility for ‘new moon’ events mentioned in scripture. Perhaps they were the first days of the months following the quarterly ‘intercalary’ days. Asherit explains this concept starting at the 5:36 minute mark in this video. To better understand these technically complicated topics, click the hyperlinks I’ll provide at the end of this article.

Image from Asherit Dead Sea Scrolls video #1

2. Why is Firstfruits of Barley on Aviv 26 in God’s Calendar?

Most Messianic disciples believe the ‘Firstfruits of Barley’ should be celebrated on the Sunday within the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread. This is the Sunday when Yeshua appeared to Mary and the disciples after His resurrection as the ‘firstfruits of the dead.’

On the Zadokite calendar image below, this Sunday is the 19th day of the 1st month. However, the Zadokite calendar places the Firstfruits of Barley event on the following Sunday, the 26th day of the first month. What’s up with that?

I emailed Asherit from the YouTube Asherit Dead Sea Scrolls channel, asking this question:

“I recently listened to a podcast by Dr. Michael Heiser in which he asserted that the Zadokite calendar is the only one that fits the numbers in Daniel’s prophecies. As a result, in researching the Zadok calendar I discovered your YouTube series. I’ve watched all 5 parts, and they’re very good, but I have a hang-up about the dating of Firstfruits that (I see) others have also asked you.
Basically, I don’t understand why Firstfruits can’t be on the Sunday within the feast of Unleavened Bread (ULB). Why does it need to be after ULB?
In your YouTube Discussion page (2 years ago) Anne Fallible asked you about this and you said you’d email her a lengthy response. If you can find it, please send me this response. Or you can send me a more current explanation if that’s more convenient.”

Asherit gave me this response the same day:

‘So, this was a source of debate among my group of friends before I discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) and the First Fruits of Barley date on Abib 26 and it actually served as confirmation that whoever wrote the DSS knew the Torah very well.

When we read Leviticus 23 it was clear that the First Fruits of Barley could not occur within the 7 days of Passover and Unleavened Bread because the 7 feasts were divided into separate sections and First Fruits was not within the section for Passover and Unleavened Bread. First Fruits of Barley and the 50-day count to Shavuot were together but separated from the earlier 7 days of Passover and the later feast of Yom Teruah/Trumpets. There were basically two different camps: 1) First Fruits must be the day following the first Sabbath after the 7 days ends and 2) After the weekly Sabbath during the week of Passover you must count 50 days to the Barley harvest and then another 50 days to the Wheat harvest.
Option 2 never made much sense to me but I thought option 1 was the best answer. After I found the DSS and saw that over 2,200 years ago they wrote it was the 26th which is the Sunday following the first weekly Sabbath after the end of Passover/Unleavened Bread I was thrilled to have a definitive answer instead of just a guess.
Then when I read in Jubilees that the feast of Shavuot was in the middle of the 3rd month, it was another confirmation that it lined up with Torah. I had always argued that starting the 50-day omer count during the 7 days of Unleavened Bread would never get you into the middle of the 3rd month when Israel arrived at Mt. Sinai according to Exodus, the closest you could get was a full week BEFORE the middle of the 3rd month…so how could Shavuot commemorate arriving at the holy mountain of Yah?
(Here she inserted the text of Leviticus 23:1-22, which I’ve removed. It’s available in your Bible.)
So, I understand that a lot of people have been taught that Yeshua had to be resurrected on First Fruits of Barley because He is called the First Fruits of the resurrection later and if He didn’t rise from the dead on First Fruits then He didn’t fulfill the feasts properly. This has been a popular Torah movement teaching which was based more on the lunar calendar tradition of the Rabbi’s who routinely mix and overlap their feast days and Shabbats.
So where did the idea come that He would be the First Fruit if He didn’t resurrect on that feast day? Isaiah 53. This is also where we get the understanding the He was to be our Atonement as it states in Hebrews although He didn’t die on Day of Atonement. Yeshua was the first to resurrect to ETERNAL life out of land that was dry, devoid of the living water needed for life. Because He was the first to resurrect with eternal life, He can now impart this to us as the Day of Atonement sacrifice.
If you will recall the part of His trial when Barabbas (Son of the Father) was placed next to Him and the people chose Yeshua as their sacrifice and that Barabbas would be set free.
The first Adam destroyed eternal life and until Yeshua there was no eternal life imparted to anyone, only the expectation of eternal life in the future Messiah which it says that Abraham saw and rejoiced over. This is why Yeshua is called the 2nd Adam/the Last Adam. But the association doesn’t dictate that He must be resurrected on the feast of First Fruits to be the First Fruit, just as He didn’t have to do it all over again in the 7th month just so He could be called our Atonement. It simply means that He fulfilled or filled up with meaning, those specific roles during His ministry.
I hope this helps…Shalom!’

3. A year isn’t 364 days, it is 365.25 days!

Yes, that’s correct. So, just as in our ‘leap year,’ where we add a compensating day (February 29^th) to our calendar every 4 years, the Zadokite solar calendar adds days to the end of a year after every five or six years, depending on the vernal (spring) equinox.

Intercalation Rule

Simply put, the Zadokite calendar’s calendar-adjustment rule is that whenever the spring equinox would extend past day 364 at the end of a year, add up to seven days to start the next year’s cycle on the following Wednesday.

For example, look at the diagram below:

The calendar numbers the days of the year from 1-364. In the Zadokite calendar Day 1 is always on a Wednesday, Pentecost (Day 75) is always on a Sunday, and Yom Kippur (Day 192) is always on a Friday, etc.
Red dates are Biblical festival dates, which never vary.
Solid Red boxes are equinoxes and solstices
Green boxes are Sabbath days (Saturdays)
Blue boxes are the 91^st day of each quarter, and intercalation days at the end of the year.

As you can see, the Spring equinox at the top beginning of the year (solid red box) was on the 3^rd Day of the week (Tuesday), but at the end of the year the Spring Equinox falls on Wednesday, which would be day 365. Therefore, add seven days (after day 364) to start day 1 of the the following year on the next Wednesday (after Day 7 in the blue box). This resets the Zadokite solar calendar, just as adding February 29th resets the Julian calendar during a leap year.

Image from Asherit Dead Sea Scrolls video #5

Then, at the end of the year following the year depicted in the diagram above, the Spring equinox will occur on day 359, so that year can end on Tuesday, day 364 and the year after that can start the next day. Another intercalation adjustment won’t be necessary again until the spring equinox occurs after day 364, after five or six years.

4. Does Psalm 104:19 support a lunar calendar?

Psalm 104:19 says, “He made the moon (yarach) for times (moedim, appointed times) and the sun knows the time of its settings.” This verse seems to support a lunar calendar for setting the dates of YHWH’s ‘appointed times.’

I emailed Asherit about this, writing:

Asherit, I have a quick question that you might be able to help me with. Psalm 104:19 says, “He made the moon (yarach) for times (moedim, appointed times) and the sun knows the time of its settings.”
This verse explicitly says God created the moon for the moedim. However, in the Zadokite calendar the moon is not associated with the moedim, so how should we understand this verse?

Asherit emailed her response to me, saying:

I believe that this verse is referring to the appointed times of the vernal and autumnal equinoxes when the moon serves as a witness to the season as established by the sun alone.
Enoch 1 tells us that two times a year the moon changes its course to set with the sun through the same gate. I have a video on my YT channel of the sun and moon setting together through the same gate on the equinox. In other words, the sun knows it’s going down, it precise location through the new gate, and the moon acts as a faithful witness.
I believe that because we are so far removed from understanding the motion of the heavens like the ancients knew them that we don’t understand references that would have been clear to them at the time it was written. I hope this helps!

Her response makes sense to me. Here’s how I now understand Psalm 104:19:

The psalmist wasn’t endorsing the lunar calendar. He was referring to the two times per year when the moon synchronizes with the sun in an equinox. They are the ‘two witnesses’ of each equinox.
The Spring equinox (when the moon passes through the same ‘gate’ as the sun) is used to establish all 364 dates for the entire year that follows, including the dates for all the ‘appointed times’ in Leviticus chapter 23.
The image below is from her YouTube video demonstration of the moon serving as a witness to the sun during the Spring and Autumn equinoxes. It starts at the 14:38 minute point in Zadok Calendar In The Dead Sea Scrolls Part 3.

Zadok Calendar in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Part 3

Conclusion: the Zadokite Priestly Calendar is God’s Calendar

The solar Zadokite calendar is God’s calendar.

For more than 2000 years, from Noah’s flood in 2348 BC until Antiochus IV Epiphanes changed it in 167 BC, historical evidence proves God’s covenant people used the Zadokite calendar.
If that’s true, it is still the calendar God uses—regardless of whether mankind uses it or not.

To Learn More About God’s Calendar

Videos

1. Calendar Dead Sea Scrolls by Professor Rachel Elior of Hebrew University This fascinating 2-hour 20 minute video includes three parts.

From the start to 1:06:15 The Dead Sea Scrolls, the Zadokites and the Essenes, the covenant and the sacred calendar, Enoch, angelic priestly ministries, angelic Melchizedek
Question and Answer period: 1:06:18 to 1:22:55 includes the history of how the ancient rabbis forbid Jewish people from reading books outside the Old Testament canon, such as Enoch, Jubilees, etc.
From 1:23:00 to the end: The Zadokite Solar Calendar is God’s calendar. Rosh Hashanah isn’t a legitimate Jewish New Year; how the lunar calendar displaced the solar calendar.

2. Asherit’s Zadok Calendar in the Dead Sea Scrolls 5-part series on YouTube:

Part 1 Introduction and Overview of the Zadokite solar calendar
Part 2 How the Zadokite solar calendar operates from year to year; intercalary days, vernal equinox
Part 3 The luminary cycles of the sun, moon and stars; how to observe the equinox
Part 4 Comparison of various lunar and solar calendars. Intercalation. How the solar calendar changed to lunar.
Part 5 Continuation of Part 4. Why the Zadok calendar is superior to other calendars, and how to establish Day 1.

Websites

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God

Jesus begins by challenging His listeners to examine their affections and priorities in life. What do they value the most?

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Matthew 6:19-21

Do Not Lay-up Treasures on Earth

Every earthly treasure is vulnerable to decay, loss, theft and inflation.

Worse yet, what good are earthly treasures when you die? We all came into this world naked, and that’s how we’ll leave it. You and I will leave all our earthly riches behind when our spirits leave our bodies.

Do Lay-up Treasures in Heaven

Unlike earthly treasures, heavenly treasures are permanent and safe.

If your treasures are in heaven, your heart will be focused on heavenly things. You’ll ‘seek ye first the kingdom of God’ on the earth.

How to lay up treasures in heaven?

Remember what Jesus said to the rich young ruler:

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
Luke 12:33

Seek ye First the Kingdom of God — The Early Jerusalem Church’s Example

Just after Jesus was resurrected and the Holy Spirit filled thousands of disciples in the first Church in Jerusalem, they literally sold their properties and donated the money to the poor. As a result, everyone’s needs were met and the congregation enjoyed rich spiritual fellowship…

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. A sense of awe came over everyone, and the apostles performed many wonders and signs. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need. With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart.
Acts 2:42-46

Up to today this was the high point in the church’s spiritual life, and it’s been going downhill since then. But, the good news is that God destines His end-time overcomers to surpass the early church’s level of spiritual life, fellowship and power.

My ‘Living by Faith’ Experiment

Examples of ‘Living by Faith’

John Taylor baptizing Honduran disciples of Jesus

In the summer of 1976 I was an unemployed, newlywed Bible college student in Lakeland, Florida. I’d read about how Hudson Taylor, George Mueller, and Watchman Nee relied totally on God for their income.

I’d also become friends with John Taylor, a missionary who still serves in Honduras today. John is a living example of someone who ‘lives by faith’. What do I mean by that? To me, ‘living by faith’ means they never ask for money or communicate their needs to any people. They rely totally on God through prayer for all their needs.

My Failed ‘Living by Faith’ Experiment

So, in 1976 I decided to put this ‘live by faith’ method to the test. I told my new wife what I believed and informed her that, instead of getting a job, I would devote myself to prayer, Bible study, and any ministry God led me to do. In return, I ‘believed’ that God would provide our rent, grocery money, and any other needs through prayer. She was skeptical, but supportive.

The experiment lasted two months. Then, after our (borrowed) car ran out of gas one night we decided we could find and redeem glass cola bottles to buy enough gasoline to get us back to our apartment.

Then, after procuring some gas to get the engine started, I removed the air filter and poured an ounce of gasoline down into the carburetor (this was before electronic fuel injection). The engine backfired and the carburetor caught on fire. Fearing it would explode, my wife screamed at me frantically to get away from it, but I ignored her and soon beat the fire out with a wool blanket. Then she started crying, and I knew she couldn’t take much more. I started looking for a job the next day.

Lessons Learned

From this experience I learned a couple good lessons:

God can and will provide money and other resources to support a person’s needs, but only when His leading prompts them to depend on this method of supply. It was presumptuous of me to expect Him to supply my needs without Him leading me to do so.
Honest work that enables me to support my family is a gift and a blessing. Since then I’ve worked as a laborer, dishwasher, cook, janitor, warehouse-man, landscaper, military officer, cyber-security consultant, and IT project manager. My experiment of ‘living by faith’ wasn’t a failure. It taught me to be thankful for all of these jobs, no matter how humble.

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven Now?

I’m not advocating that you sell everything you own today and give all your money to the poor. As in the lesson I learned from my ‘living by faith’ experiment, such an action (without God’s leading) is presumptuous. Today’s Church is carnal and fragmented, and the early Jerusalem Church’s example doesn’t exist today.

However, within my lifetime I believe God will restore the early Jerusalem Church’s example. At the end of this age the Holy Spirit will guide sincere disciples of Jesus to return to this radical level of practical spirituality and fellowship as the living Body of Christ.

Then, it will be time for us to sell everything, give to the poor, and lay up treasures in heaven. The only question will be, “Will you serve God or will you serve mammon?”

The definition of Mammon is – material wealth or possessions especially as having a debasing influence.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Seek ye First the Kingdom of God | No One C Two Masters

The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Matthew 6:22-24

Jesus challenges us to ask, “What are we focused on?” If your treasures are in heaven, your heart will be full of light, oriented toward the things of heaven. But if your priorities and affections are earthly, your heart will be full of darkness, and oriented toward carnal, earthly things.

To serve God we must be single-minded. No one can serve two masters. We will either serve God or mammon, but we cannot serve both.

God’s Cure for Anxiety | Seek ye First the Kingdom of God

Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”
Matthew 6:25

If you fix eyes on God’s heavenly kingdom, you won’t need to worry about your physical needs. If you’re concentrating on advancing His kingdom, God will make sure your physical needs are met.

Don’t Worry About Eating

Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Matthew 6:26

Think about it. As long as the billions of birds, fish, and animals function according to their place in creation, God provides food for them all. As humans, our rank is at the top of creation, even above angels. God literally made us in His own image.

Don’t Worry About Your Lifespan

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Matthew 6:27

King David wrote, “My times are in Your hands.” (Psalm 31:15) We can establish a healthy lifestyle and avoid taking unnecessary risks, but after we’ve done these things we have absolutely no control over how long we’ll live in our body. It’s up to God.

Our physical, bodily lifespan is in God’s hands. But as long as we’re focusing on God’s kingdom as our first priority, God will make sure we physically live long enough to fulfill our God-given mission on earth.

Don’t Worry About Clothing

And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Matthew 6:28-30

Clothing was Both Apparel and Shelter

In Israel 2000 years ago a man’s clothing served more functions than it does today.

The Bible required all Jewish men to travel to Jerusalem three times each year for the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. It’s about 100 miles (160 km) from Galilee to Jerusalem, and men walked the entire distance in 5-10 days, sleeping on the ground at night, using their outer robe (or mantle) for their bedding and blanket.

So, in addition to covering the body for modesty and warmth, a man’s clothing was his raincoat, tent, and sleeping bag. Without sufficient clothing a person would die of exposure.

Rich men often wore an ornate outer robe (some were made of silk). This was a sign to others that they didn’t need to condescend to sleeping on the ground.

No Spiritual Value in Beautiful Adornment

In contrast, what Jesus said about John the Baptist, who wore a camel’s hair robe with a leather belt:

What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who wear fine clothing are found in kings’ palaces…
Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Matthew 11:8, 11

Jesus Himself “hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”
Isaiah 53:2

Finally, my father once gave me this advice about the clothes I had to wear to church as a boy. “As long as your clothes are clean and the holes are patched, don’t be ashamed of what you’re wearing.”

Don’t Worry Like An Orphaned Pagan | You Have a Heavenly Father | He Will Provide

Do Not Worry!

Notice in the next verse that Jesus didn’t gently say “You don’t have to worry.”

Instead, as a direct result of the things He has said since verse 19 above, He emphatically commands us “DO NOT worry.”

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:31-33

Jesus says, “therefore STOP WORRYING!” Stop acting like a pagan unbeliever who:

Rejects God’s sacrifice for sin
Lives in willful ignorance, sin, and rebellion against God
Has no desire for holiness, and no right to approach God
Cannot call God ‘my Father’

Instead of Worrying – Seek ye First the Kingdom of God

Your heavenly Father (and creator and sustainer) knows everything you need, even before and in more detail than you do.

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Luke 12:6-7

So, instead of worrying about food, drink, clothing, or the length of your life, “Seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all those things shall be added unto you!”

God’s promise is if you are seeking His spiritual kingdom and His righteousness, then your heavenly Father will provide everything you need to sustain you in this physical world.

My Alaskan Journey of Miracles

Juneau Alaska

A few years after my ‘Living by Faith’ experiment, we had migrated from Florida, to Ohio, to Juneau, Alaska–the most beautiful capital city in America (in my opinion).

Then, after about a year in Juneau, I lost my good-paying job. I found work at minimum wage as a dishwasher, and later in a furniture warehouse. We moved into what people now call a ‘tiny house.’ In January 1978 our daughter was born and I didn’t have medical insurance to cover the expenses. As much as I loved Juneau, I knew something had to change in our financial situation and that meant I’d have to look elsewhere.

Pilot Training

I piloted US Army helicopters pilot in the Vietnam war. When I returned to America I got an FAA commercial helicopter pilot’s license. After the war the helicopter pilot market was flooded with veterans with more experience than I had, so I couldn’t get a helicopter flying job.

As an alternative to helicopters, I wanted to become an Alaska bush pilot. However, I wasn’t an airplane pilot.

So, to become a bush pilot my first step was to attend a civilian flight school in Anchorage to get my commercial airplane pilot’s license.

My veteran’s educational benefits would cover most of the cost for the training, but not my travel, room & board in Anchorage, or my wife and baby’s expenses in Juneau while I was gone. Fortunately, my mother-in-law was living in the tiny house with us and she found a job in the hospital cafeteria, so she volunteered to cover their expenses in Juneau.

Anchorage to Palmer, then Back to Anchorage in 1 Day–By Faith

I had just-enough money to get a plane ticket for the 575-mile airline flight from Juneau to Anchorage. I didn’t know anyone in Anchorage, but the Church I attended in Juneau had some congregations in various places; one of which was in Palmer Alaska, 43 miles North of Anchorage.

After buying my one-way plane ticket I had about $50 remaining. We prayed and asked for God’s help. Then I boarded the plane with only a small backpack and flew to Anchorage in the autumn of 1978. Strangely, I wasn’t apprehensive; I had the peace of God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7

Arrived in Anchorage Alaska by Noon. Started Walking to Palmer

I arrived before noon and started walking. With about 40 miles to cover, I ‘stuck out my thumb’ and hitch-hiked North out of the city of Anchorage toward Palmer. I didn’t have an exact address for my destination–a communal farm near Palmer–but I trusted that someone in that area would know where it was. (Remember, this was many years before the world had cellphones and the internet.)

I remember one driver who picked me up. He was in his late 20s, with the rough hands of someone who worked hard doing physical labor, maybe a homesteader. He seemed hostile when I talked about God, and he thought I was crazy for what I was doing. But he gave me some good general directions to my farm destination before he let me out of his pickup. God bless him.

In Palmer Alaska

I got to the farm in the mid-afternoon and introduced myself. We had many common friends, so that authenticated me as one of their brethren from Juneau. When they asked what my plans were, I told them I planned to attend flight training at Merrill Field in Anchorage, 40 miles away.

I was ecstatic to learn that they’d just started an outreach near Merrill Field, with 5 guys who rented a house within walking distance of the airport. The guys were working for another brother in Anchorage who owned a ServiceMaster janitorial business, cleaning office buildings at night. To make everything perfect, one of the brothers from Palmer was driving into Anchorage shortly afterward and would take me to the house where the 5 guys were staying.

Back to Anchorage

I arrived back in Anchorage in time for supper.

God Provided All My Needs

I was able to stay in that house near the airport, sharing the rent and expenses with 5 guys while working in the janitorial business at night and getting my FAA airplane commercial and instrument licenses during the day.

Looking back on it, I know God miraculously provided for me, from the time I left Juneau until I ‘got back on my feet’ financially again. As I achieved my goals I never missed a meal or lacked a warm place to sleep.

Shortly after finishing flight training my family joined me in Anchorage where we continued to slowly prosper. Our son was born there in 1979. By then I had a good-paying job with medical insurance coverage.

Do Not Be Anxious About Tomorrow, but Seek ye First the Kingdom of God

Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34

Finally, don’t worry about God’s provision for tomorrow either. If you’re walking in God’s will, and seeking His kingdom and righteousness first in your life, God’s provision will be there when you need it.

In Conclusion | Seek ye First the Kingdom of God

Through a detailed exposition of Matthew 6:19-34, illustrated with examples from personal experience, I’ve demonstrated that if you ‘seek ye first the kingdom of God’ and His righteousness as your first priority in life, then you should never worry about:

Whether you’ll have enough to eat
The length of your life
Whether you’ll have adequate clothing and shelter
Tomorrow’s provision.

If you ‘seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness’, then you can absolutely rely and depend on Him to take care of your physical needs on the earth.

What Do You Think?

Did this article answer all your questions on this topic? Please leave a comment below and tell me:

Are you satisfied by the information in this article?
Or, did it leave you wanting more?

Anticipating Christian Pentecost

Early and Latter Rains

People in ancient Israel understood agricultural examples. They knew:

The early rain came in the autumn. It softened the hardened earth, enabling farmers to plow and plant their seeds.
The latter rain came in the spring. It ripened the grain, just in time before the big harvest.

The Early Rain Pentecost

The apostle James directly connects this symbol of Israel’s early and latter rains to the Lord’s return.

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the early and latter rains. You too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
James 5:7-8

The first century Pentecostal outpouring of God’s Spirit was the early rain.

In the early rain God gave us the Holy Spirit as ‘the earnest of our inheritance.’

The Earnest of Our Inheritance

ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession
Ephesians 1:14

This raises two questions:

The definition of earnest?
What is our inheritance?

Earnest of Our Inheritance?

An earnest is a pledge or down payment. It proves the buyer’s full intent to complete a transaction. In this case, it is God’s guarantee to us that He has accepted us and He will bring us into our inheritance.

What is Our Inheritance?

If the Spirit’s Pentecostal outpouring 2000 years ago was the earnest (or pledge) of our inheritance, what will our full inheritance look like?

Our Inheritance Includes Redemption

The Spirit of God is now “the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.”

Redemption is: “The purchase back of something that had been lost, by the payment of a ransom.”
https://biblehub.com/topical/r/redemption.htm

How Were We Redeemed?

What did God pay for our ransom? God redeemed us by the blood of Jesus. At the throne of YHWH in heaven, this is the song the elders sing to the resurrected and glorified Lamb of God:

Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You redeemed for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.
Revelation 5:9

What are we redeemed from?

Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Titus 2:14

The Greek word for iniquity literally means ‘without law.’ It means living outside the boundaries of God’s moral will for us. Since the early rain of Pentecost we have the Holy Spirit to guide us out of iniquity and into holiness.

What are we redeemed to?

One of the Holy Spirit’s primary roles today is to fulfill Jeremiah’s prophecy of the New Covenant:

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.
But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.
Jeremiah 31:31-34

Therefore, since Pentecost, as we walk according to the Holy Spirit’s leading in our heart God ‘redeems us from all iniquity, purifying to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.’ (Titus 2:14)

Our Inheritance Includes Sonship

all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Romans 8:14

Inherit All of Creation

The sons of God will inherit all of creation:

And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.” And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life. The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.
Revelation 21:5-8

Jesus’ Younger Brothers

For eternity Jesus will look upon these sons of God, whom the Spirit conforms to Jesus’ image, as His younger brothers.

be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.
Romans 8:29

Summary of Our Inheritance

Therefore, if you walk in the Spirit you will overcome iniquity and God will conform you to His image. Then, you will inherit all things and be recognized throughout creation as a son of Almighty God, a brother of Jesus. This is your inheritance if you choose to become a son of God.

The Hope of Redemption

The early rain Pentecost gave us the earnest of our inheritance, but we earnestly desire the total consummation of our redemption, the redemption of our bodies. As Paul wrote,

We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Romans 8:22-23

The latter rain Pentecost will soon bring us closer to this goal.

The Latter Rain Pentecost

In the early rain Pentecost God gave us the Holy Spirit as (1) the earnest of our inheritance, and (2) an indwelling guide to conform us into His moral image.

For almost 2000 years Jesus patiently waits for the latter rain Pentecost to bring his bride to spiritual maturity, “to the full measure of the stature of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13) His wait is almost over.

What to Expect in the Latter Rain Pentecost

The latter rain Pentecost will ripen the Bride of Christ into maturity, “to the full measure of the stature of Christ.”
The latter rain Pentecost will result in the glorious ‘manifestation of the sons of God.’ They are the 144000 ‘firstfruits’ of the global harvest at the end of this age.

Pentecost is a ‘Firstfruits’ Festival

The Feast of Pentecost is also known by other names, one of which is ‘Firstfruits.’ Here’s a list of names for the Feast of Pentecost:

Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10, 16)
- This is because (every year) Pentecost is celebrated 50 days (7 Sabbath weeks plus one day) after the day God resurrected Jesus’ body from death.
- Feast of Shavuot (Hebrew word for Weeks)
Feast of the Harvest of the Firstfruits (Exodus 23:16)
Firstfruits of the Wheat Harvest (Exodus 34:22, Numbers 28:26)

Caution: Don’t Confuse the Two Firstfruits Festivals

The reason why Pentecost is also called a Firstfruits festival is that Pentecost is an extension of Jesus’ resurrection. Let me explain…

There are two festivals called Firstfruits, and they’re related via Jesus’ resurrection.

Leviticus 23: 9-14 This Firstfruits festival occurs during the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus fulfilled this barley Firstfruits festival by His resurrection.
Leviticus 23:15-21 Then, 50 days after the resurrection, the Pentecost ‘Firstfruits of the Wheat Harvest’ festival began to be fulfilled in the ‘early rain’ outpouring of the Holy Spirit into the disciples in Jerusalem. I say it ‘began to be fulfilled’ because Pentecost has more fulfillment coming in the latter rain outpouring of God’s glory.

The barley Firstfruits festival celebrates the Messiah’s resurrection. It’s also the event that triggers the 50-day countdown to Pentecost, which is the wheat Firstfruits festival.

Jesus said His resurrection is what enables God to send His Holy Spirit to us. So, Pentecost is dependent on (and triggered by) the resurrection.

But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
John 16:7

In summary, there are two Firstfruits festivals (50 days apart) and both are related to Jesus’ resurrection.

Pentecost as ‘Firstfruits of the Wheat Harvest’

One Firstfruit versus Many Firstfruits

The Barley Firstfruit Festival is a Single, Unleavened Offering

There is one sheaf of barley in the barley Firstfruits festival. Since this festival occurs during the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread, we can be absolutely certain this offering is unleavened.

This single sheaf represents the sinless state of our Passover sacrifice, Jesus. YHWH resurrected Jesus’ sinless body, fulfilling this festival.

The Wheat Firstfruit Festival (Pentecost) is a Multiple, Leavened Offering

In contrast to the single sheaf of unleavened barley, two leavened loaves of wheat bread represent multiple wheat Firstfruits with imperfections in their lives.

Two Leavened Loaves

Bring two loaves of bread from your dwellings as a wave offering, each made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with leaven, as the firstfruits to the LORD.
Leviticus 23:15-17

Jesus was the single, unleavened firstfruit offering in the barley Firstfruits festival.

Since the barley Firstfruit represented a person, I assume these two leavened loaves also represent people. If so, we can learn two things from the two leavened loaves:

It’s a group — not just one person.
They’re not totally perfect and holy. There is leaven in their lives, which represents imperfection.

Who Are the Pentecost ‘Firstfruits of the Wheat Harvest?’

Exodus 34:22 calls Pentecost the ‘Firstfruits of the Wheat Harvest’ . So, who are represented by the two leavened loaves? What group of imperfect people will be the ‘firstfruits of the wheat harvest?’

The Book of Revelation gives us the answer… in the end-time, angels ‘seal’ 144000 disciples of Jesus in chapter 7. They’re called the “firstfruits to God and the Lamb” in Revelation 14:4.

I believe Pentecost’s two leavened loaves represent the 144000 disciples of Jesus in the Book of Revelation. There’s leaven in their lives, so they’re not yet perfect like Jesus. But, like King David, God looks on their pure heart.

They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They have been redeemed from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And no lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
Revelation 14:4-5

For much more detail about the latter rain Pentecostal blessing of the 144000, sometimes called ‘the manifestation of the sons of God,’ watch the video or read my free book at Arise, Shine!

Christian Pentecost – Conclusion

The Feast of Pentecost has two fulfillments, symbolized by Israel’s early rain and latter rain.

The Early Rain

In the early rain Pentecost, almost 2000 years ago, God gave us the Holy Spirit as ‘the earnest of our inheritance.’

The Latter Rain

The latter rain Pentecost will ripen the Bride of Christ into maturity, “to the full measure of the stature of Christ.”
The latter rain Pentecost will result in the glorious ‘manifestation of the sons of God.’ They are the 144000 ‘firstfruits’ of the global harvest at the end of this age.

What Do You Think?

Did this article answer all your questions on this topic? Please leave a comment below and tell me:

Did this article satisfy you?
Or, did it leave you wanting more?

A Christian View of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

Eat the Passover Lamb

For an excellent introduction to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, including the correct timeline for Jesus’ final week on earth, I recommend this video:

The Old Testament Passover Experience and Its Symbolism

Here is the Old Testament passage where God ordained the Passover Feast of Unleavened Bread, from Exodus 12:1-17:

“Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year.

Select a Passover Lamb

Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household. If the household is too small for a whole lamb, they are to share with the nearest neighbor, based on the number of people, and apportion the lamb accordingly.

Your lamb must be an unblemished-year-old male, and you may take it from the sheep or the goats. You must care for it until the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. They are to take some of the blood and put it on the two sideposts and tops of the doorframes of the houses in which they eat the lambs.

Eat the Roasted Passover Lamb that Night

They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Do not eat any of the meat raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over the fire—its head and legs and inner parts. Do not leave any of it until morning; before the morning you must burn up any part that is left over.

Be Ready to Travel

This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover. On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.

The blood on the houses where you are staying will distinguish them; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

A Perpetual 7-Day Memorial

And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day, you are to remove the yeast from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.

On the first day, you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day. You must not do any work on those days, except to prepare the meals—that is all you may do.

So you are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must observe this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.

Passover and the Exodus from Egypt

If you’ve seen The Ten Commandments movie, starring Charlton Heston, you know the first Passover happened as the death angel killed all the firstborn children and animals of the Egyptians. The death angel ‘passed over’ each Israelite family that applied an innocent lamb’s blood to the doorposts of their houses.

That evening, the Israelites roasted and ate the sacrificial lambs, along with bread that didn’t have time to leaven, just before they hurriedly departed Egypt and miraculously crossed the Red Sea.

The Passover Commemoration

In Exodus 12 (above) and Leviticus chapter 23, God told Israel to commemorate their deliverance from Egyptian bondage every year by sacrificing a lamb on the 14th of Nisan (the first month) and eating it’s roasted flesh that evening.

In Jewish tradition this meal is known as the Passover Seder (pronounced say-der). It’s during this “Feast of Unleavened Bread” when the freshly-killed Passover lamb is eaten.

The 15th of Nisan began at sundown, a few hours after the lambs were killed. Unlike our days that begin at midnight, Biblical days start at sundown, as in this verse from Genesis chapter one.

“And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.“
Genesis 1:5

A Perpetual Feast

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a permanent ordinance, for all time.

This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to YHWH. This is a law for all time.
Exodus 12:14

God said for His people to celebrate this feast perpetually–for all time. The Roman church in the second and third centuries, especially under Constantine, had no authority to discard Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or to replace them with Good Friday and Easter.

But thankfully, Christians today are re-discovering God’s appointed times and their spiritual application under the New Covenant.

Jesus Is Our Christian Passover

As you learned in the video above, Passover isn’t a day.

In the annual Passover commemoration, “The Lord’s Passover” is the actual sacrifice of our lamb for our sins, whether it’s a yearling sheep, or Jesus, the Lamb of God.

At 3 pm on the 14th of Nisan, the Passover lambs were killed in God’s temple. At exactly the same time, Jesus was dying on the cross as the Lamb of God. Thus, Jesus fulfilled the symbolism of the Passover lamb.

Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread Fulfills the Old Testament Symbolism

Get rid of the old yeast, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
1 Corinthians 5:7

Jesus not only perfectly fulfilled the symbolism of the Passover Lamb, delivering us from our bondage to sin and the fear of death, but He was sacrificed at exactly the same time as the Jewish priests were sacrificing the Jewish Passover lambs in the temple.

Then, Jesus was buried in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb just before sundown on Nisan 14. Sundown is the start of Nisan 15, which then begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

To Live You Must Eat My Flesh | I am the Living Bread

During His ministry Jesus totally astonished all of His followers when He said,

Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh. (John 6:47-51)

At the last supper He said,

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24)

Jesus is our Passover sacrifice. Just as the Israelites ate their sacrificial lamb during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so Christians must feed on the Lamb of God–who is now a life-giving Spirit.

“The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.”
1 Corinthians 15:45

Identify and Remove Leaven: Manmade Traditions and Teachings

Many Jews and Christians struggle to understand God’s commandment to purge all the leaven from our houses for one week each year. For an excellent perspective on what leaven is, and what it symbolically represents, watch this video:

In light of the teaching in this video, during the annual Feast of Unleavened Bread God primarily wants us to introspectively examine our hearts to identify and remove any ‘leaven.’ That is, we need to remove every man-made teaching or tradition that contradicts or replaces God’s word.

Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread: Prepare for the ‘Greater Exodus’ in Our Future

Just as the children of Israel fled Egypt in ‘the exodus’ under Moses, the Bible tells us there’s a Greater Exodus in our future.

The ancient exodus from Egypt began during the week after Passover. Then God delivered one people; the people who became the nation of Israel.

But, in a future (Christian) Feast of Unleavened Bread week, God will begin to deliver His people out of all the nations of the earth in the ‘Greater Exodus’. This ‘Greater Exodus’ will totally eclipse and replace the ancient exodus from Egypt in the minds of all God’s people forever.

As Jeremiah prophesied,

Yet behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when men will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.’ Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which He had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.
Jeremiah 16:14-15

Timing of the Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread–the Greater Exodus

For reasons I explain in my End Time Events Sequence, the Greater Exodus will happen during the Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread, just after the great tribulation begins.

The ‘abomination of desolation’ will initiate the 3.5-year great tribulation. Since the 7th Trumpet at the end of the tribulation will certainly coincide with the autumn feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles, this means the abomination of desolation will coincide with the spring feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread, exactly 3.5 years earlier.

Just as God delivered Moses and the Israelites from Egypt on the 15th of Nisan, I expect God will initiate the Greater Exodus in our future on Nisan 15. Just as God told the Israelites the words below, so they will apply to us in the future.

“This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.“

To learn more about the Greater Exodus, here are two references:

The Sequence of End-Time Events
The video below from Lion & Lamb Ministries

Conclusion: Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread

The perpetual Feast of Unleavened Bread teaches us that we must always remember:

Our Passover Lamb’s sacrifice that gives us forgiveness and life
To cleanse our mind and heart from the leaven of every man-made teaching or tradition that contradicts or replaces God’s word
The deliverance God provides for our souls, as well as our bodies in the future, Greater Exodus.

When is the Next Year of Jubilee? | The 70th Jubilee | Leviticus 25:10

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70th Year of Jubilee in 2024

When is the next Biblical Jubilee year… the 70th Jubilee? This article presents compelling archaeological and prophetic evidence suggesting the trumpet announcing the 70th Jubilee year will sound on the ‘Day of Atonement’ in 2024.

Yom Kippur 2024

This day will announce the 70th Year of Jubilee since Joshua led Israel to enter the promised land in 1406 BC. This 70th Year of Jubilee will celebrate our release from the toils of this world and the restoration of our ancient spiritual inheritance in God’s kingdom.

What is the Year of Jubilee?

According to Leviticus 25:8, the Biblical Year of Jubilee happens after every 49-year cycle. It’s announced on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement–the holiest day on God’s calendar, when the High Priest enters God’s presence to ‘cover’ the sins of the whole nation.

The Ancient Hebrew Jubilee Year

Jubilee first appears in the book of Leviticus. God said a Jubilee year was to be celebrated after every 49 years. During this 50th Jubilee year, all debts were erased and all indentured Israelites were freed. Everyone and everything in Israel was to be restored to their original clans and families.

God told Moses to start the 49-year Jubilee cycle “when you enter the land that I am giving to you.” Also, “the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD..” (Leviticus 25:2)

There’s no record of Israel ever celebrating the Year of Jubilee by complying with all its requirements to forgive debts, free slaves, etc.

Jubilee in the New Covenant

Enter Our Promised Land

Just as Israel was to celebrate Jubilee after entering their promised land under Joshua, we have a spiritual promised land to enter. What better time to enter our promised land than on the 70th Jubilee anniversary?

In the New Covenant, the Year of Jubilee represents entering our promised land, when God glorifies His overcomers.

This restoration includes: complete deliverance from our sinful nature, glorification, immortality, and restoring our heavenly inheritance in God’s kingdom.

Return to Your Property and Your Clan

…consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan.
Leviticus 25:10

Property and Clan

Return to His Property

What property are we to return to? Before you can understand the property we’re returning to, you need to know where we came from in our past.

Warning–the following section will probably be new and strange to you, so I ask you to consider this information without preconceived bias, according to the Bible–not according to denominational theology.

Our spirits existed with God in the eon of time before Adam, but we all fell into sin, resulting in God destroying the earth, making it without form and void. Our spirits continued to exist, but sin alienated us from our holy God. The situation was hopeless–something in us died. Then, since ‘before the foundation of the earth,’ God devised a plan to reconcile us through the sacrifice of His Son, our Savior and Messiah. (Revelation 13:8, 17:8, Ephesians 1:4, Titus 1:2, Matthew 25:34)

Now, during our present eon, God reconciles Himself (and restores spiritual life) to every spirit who responds to the gospel truth. This includes everyone who receives the Father’s forgiveness through faith in our Savior and Messiah, Jesus. We are ‘begotten-again’ in a new creation. We’re sons of the ‘Second Adam.’ (see John 3:3, 1 Peter 1:3, 1:23 1 John 5:18, 2 Cor 5:17, Gal 6:15, 1 Cor 15:47)

Therefore, Jubilee will be fulfilled when we recover our previous state of glory and joy in YHWH’s presence. Just as the Israelites returned to their ancestral allotment of land, God will restore us to our ancient spiritual position in His kingdom, completely reconciled and reinstated through His infinite grace and love.

I realize these concepts are not commonly taught, so if you’re curious to learn more about our spiritual pre-existence and God’s plan of reconciliation, refer to my free book Overcomers’ Treasure Map.

Return to His Clan – Spiritual Israel

What clan will we return to? When believers are grafted into Israel (Romans 11:17-21) we are grafted into one of spiritual Israel’s tribes. Within each tribe of spiritual Israel are families, or ‘mishpachah,’ which is translated ‘clans’ in Leviticus 25:10 above.

Natural Israel versus Spiritual Israel

Be careful–don’t confuse the present state of Israel, or Jewish people, with ‘spiritual Israel.’ The apostle Paul wrote:

Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
Galatians 4:26

Paul was a Jewish rabbi, and he loved his Jewish countrymen. YHWH also loves the carnal descendants of Abraham, and many natural Jews will be reconciled to the Father through faith. But, YHWH has no favorite children who can disregard His rules. Yeshua is the only door to reconciliation–access to the Father is only through faith in Yeshua as our Passover sacrifice. (John 10:1-18, 1 Cor 5:7)

Spiritual Israel

So, in contrast to natural Israel, ‘spiritual’ Israel is comprised of every person (from any nation) who responds to the gospel truth–everyone who has ever been reconciled to the Father through faith in our Savior and Messiah, Jesus.

What about believers who lived before Jesus came? Spiritual Israel includes ancient saints, such as Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Ruth, and all the others who looked forward to the Savior in their future. Spiritual Israel is based only on faith in YHWH’s promises, not on carnal lineage. Therefore, Spiritual Israel includes all disciples of YHWH, since Abel, who wholeheartedly trust Him and walk in His ways.

Our Clan?

Currently, most of us don’t know what tribe and clan we belong to. I expect God will reveal our clan ‘allotment’ during Jubilee’s fulfillment. From then on, we’ll possess an eternal home within one of the 12 tribes of spiritual Israel.

Your Eternal Home

Jerusalem today is divided into four quarters–Jewish, Muslim, Armenian, and Christian. And, there are ancient gates coming into each quarter. But, in the New Jerusalem, there are 12 gates–one for each tribe of spiritual Israel. Each gate is made of a single pearl (Revelation 21:12). If you’re a disciple, one of these gates will access your clan’s portion of the city–your eternal home in God’s capital on earth.

During the Year of Jubilee the Land Itself Will Observe a Sabbath

…when you enter the land that I am giving to you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.
Leviticus 25:2

When YHWH fulfills Jubilee, the earth itself will enter into Sabbath rest.

All of creation eagerly awaits the manifestation of the (144,000) sons of God. When Jubilee Year comes, creation will be delivered from the bondage of decay into glorious freedom:

The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
Romans 8:19-21

Not only will the overcomers return to their ancient property and clan, but YHWH will return creation to its original state in the Jubilee Year. During the Millennial Reign of Messiah the earth will be like the Garden of Eden, prosperous and peaceful.

God’s ‘Appointed Times’ Reveal God’s Plan and Sequence of Events

In Leviticus chapter 23 God established 7 ‘appointed times’ for His people. These appointed times symbolically portray God’s plan of redemption and deliverance. They also reveal how God will re-establish His kingdom on the earth.

God’s Appointed Times

Passover
Unleavened Bread
Firstfruits
Pentecost
Trumpets
Atonement
Tabernacles

Jesus fulfilled the first 4 (Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Pentecost) on the exact days and times while the Jews were celebrating them.

Therefore, it’s reasonable to expect God will fulfill the remaining 3 (Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles) exactly on their annual anniversaries in our future.

The Biblical 49-Year Jubilee Cycle

Starting the year Israel entered the ‘promised land,’ the Jubilee-year cycle occurs every 49 years.

Here are the details from Leviticus 25:

Shmitah Years – Sabbath Every 7th Year

When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD…For six years you may sow your field and prune your vineyard and gather its crops. But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land—a Sabbath to the LORD…The land must have a year of complete rest.
Leviticus 25:2,3,5

Jubilee Year – Every 49 Years (7 Shmitah periods)

And you shall count off seven sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to forty-nine years. Then you are to sound the trumpet far and wide on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement. You shall sound it throughout your land. So you are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan.
Leviticus 25:8-10

The 50th Year in the 49-Year Jubilee Cycle

The Jubilee-Year cycle repeats every 49 years (7 shmitahs), but the actual Year of Jubilee is the 50th year. That is, the 50th year is the same as (it overlaps) the first year in the next 49-year cycle. Here’s a diagram to illustrate this overlap:

So, in this diagram, both year #1 and year #50 are Jubilee years.

Here’s another example: Every week has 7 days. According to the Bible, Sunday is the first day and Saturday is the seventh day. The next Sunday would be the eighth day, but it’s also the first day of the next week.

If this 49 versus 50 concept is still confusing, watch this video for a good explanation.

When is the next Year of Jubilee?

If you ask Google ‘When is the next year of Jubilee’ you’ll see there’s a lot of ignorance, disagreement, and confusion about this question. It’s a mystery.

According to Leviticus chapter 25, the Biblical Jubilee year cycle started when Israel entered the Promised Land.

Then the LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.”
Leviticus 25:1

I discovered a BibleArchaeology.org article which convincingly proves that Joshua led Israel to enter the Promised Land in 1406BC. A search on their website will provide many references to 1406BC. Here is one of them:

The commencement of the conquest can be dated exactly. With the exodus datable to 1446 BC, the conquest automatically is dated to 1406 BC, because for “40 years the sons of Israel walked in the wilderness” before entering Canaan (Josh 5:6). Since the crossing of the Jordan River transpired on the 10^th day of the first month, a date of 28 April 1406 BC is fixed as the day in which the Israelites crossed into Canaan (Josh 4:19).
BibleArchaeology link

Jubilee Year Starting in 2024?

Based on this 1406BC start date and a 49-year Jubilee cycle, the next Jubilee Year will start on Nisan 1 (Day 1 of the Biblical calendar, in the spring of 2024) and Jubilee will be formally announced by trumpet blasts on Yom Kippur, in the autumn of 2024. It will be the 70th Jubilee.

Here are my calculations:

2024AD + 1406BC = 3430 years.

3430/49=70

The pattern and dates fit exactly, just as they would if they match God’s plan.

In his 1260d.com website, Dean Coombs provides detailed corroboration that the 70th Year of Jubilee will start in 2024.

2017 and the 50-Year Cycle

In the 20th century important events happened for the Jews and the nation of Israel. Events occurred in 1917 and 1967, 50-years apart, making people wonder if something big would also happen for Israel in 2017… 50 years after 1967 and 100 years after 1917.

I enjoyed Israel’s 70th birthday in May 2018 in Jerusalem with Dr Michael Heiser and Derek & Sharon Gilbert of Skywatch TV. As you can see in my iPhone video below, Israelis filled the streets, celebrating with overflowing joy on the day the American Embassy moved there from Tel Aviv. Being there was an awesome experience!

Recognizing Israel’s Capital and Moving the US Embassy

On December 6, 2017 President Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and announced plans to move the US Embassy. But, other than the Revelation 12 Sign in the heavens, I can’t find any other ‘big’ events that happened regarding Israel in 2017… at least not on the same level as the 1917 Balfour Declaration or the 1967 Six-Day War.

The 50-Year Cycle

People naturally associate this 50-year 2017/1967/2017 cycle with Leviticus 25:11, which says, “You shall have the fiftieth year as a Jubilee.” They assume that since every fiftieth year is a Jubilee, therefore 1917 and 1967 must have been Jubilee years because God did good things for Israel on these events which were fifty years apart.

Not a Jubilee Cycle

As I’ll explain below, I do recognize this important 50-year cycle. But it’s not the Jubilee-Year cycle.

For a compelling presentation why 49 is correct for Jubilee Year calculations instead of 50, see Jubilee Year Cycle (49 or 50?)

The 50-Year Cycle – Since Creation

The 50-year cycle started at creation, approximately 3983 BC, not in 1406 BC when the Jubilee cycle started.

So, what does the 50-year cycle symbolize? The apostle Peter wrote,

Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
2 Peter 3:8

Therefore six days represent 6000 years. Six days reminds us of the 6 days of creation before God rested on the 7th day.

Most Bible teachers believe this means mankind will have 6000 years before the ‘7th-day’ millennial reign of Christ begins. 6000 is evenly divisible by 50, resulting in 120. 6000/50 = 120

The number 120 will immediately remind Bible readers of what God said in Genesis 6:3… After 200 angels mated with human women, producing ‘nephilim’ giants (for more about this see the Book of Enoch chapter 6), God said:

My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.
Genesis 6:3

The Perfect Resolution of the 49-Year and 50-Year Cycles

Let’s connect the dots…

50-Year Cycle

The 50-year cycle begins with the Biblical creation in Genesis, ending (after 6000 years) on its 120th anniversary in 2017.

After 6000 years, the 120th anniversary of the 50-year 1917/1967/2017 cycle coincides with the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week in 2017.

2017 starts the final 7-year shmitah cycle.

49-Year Cycle

In contrast, the Bible reckons the 49-year Jubilee cycle from when Israel entered the promised land in 1406 BC, ending on its 70th anniversary in 2024.

The 70th anniversary of the 49-year Jubilee cycle coincides with the end of Daniel’s 70th week in 2024.

Coincidence?

The 120th and 70th anniversaries of the two cycles are symbolically significant in themselves. But for them to frame the beginning and end of the 2017-2024 period is too auspicious to ignore or discount. I cannot believe this is coincidental.

When Does Daniel’s 70th Week Start?

What event initiates Daniel’s 70th week?

Daniel 9:27 famously states, “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week“. But, who is the “he” who makes this firm covenant? And what is this ‘covenant with the many’ for one week?

The common view is “he” refers to the Antichrist, who will make a ‘covenant with many’ for 7 years.
A common assumption is the ‘covenant with many’ is a 7-year peace treaty between the Antichrist and Israel.
But, others believe “he” refers to Jesus, who confirmed the New Covenant in His own blood, poured out for many. (Matthew 26:28, also Mark 14:24)
Finally, many believe Antiochus IV Epiphanes already fulfilled many details of Daniel’s prophecies in 167-164 BC.

With so many unknowns I’m not confident we can know who “he” is, or what the ‘covenant with many’ is. As a result, we may not recognize the event that starts Daniel’s 70th week.

Conclusion – the 70th Year of Jubilee

A Bright Future

We are living at the end of the age, and the birth pangs are increasing for everyone. The good news is that God will defeat all His enemies and God’s people have nothing to worry about.

When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
Luke 21:28

There is nothing man can do to us if we are in Christ.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39

Finally, my advice is to be watchful. Abide in God’s Spirit continuously, listening and obeying His voice. Strive to make yourself ready for the Lord’s imminent appearing.

Pentecost

God’s Calendar – Introduction

Ancient Witnesses to God’s Solar Calendar

Genesis

Daniel

1 Enoch

Jubilees

Solomon’s Temple Designed for God’s Calendar

Dead Sea Scrolls

Book of Revelation

HOW Israel Transitioned from God’s Solar Calendar to a Lunar Calendar

Overview of the Jewish Transition from Solar to Lunar Calendar

Details of the Jewish Transition from Solar to Lunar Calendar

Onias III, 199-175 BC

Jason, 175-172 BC

Antiochus IV Epiphanes, 175-163 BC

Menelaus, 172-161 BC

Divided Jewry, from 164 BC to 73 AD

The ‘Sons of Zadok’ Prophecy in Ezekiel

The Jewish Religion from 73 AD to Today

The Bible, Talmud, Mishnah, etc.

What is God’s Calendar?

Description

Benefits

God’s Calendar Template

Sabbath Days on God’s Calendar

‘Appointed Times’ on God’s Calendar

Resolving My Own Arguments Against the Solar Zadokite Calendar

1. Doesn’t the Bible talk about the new moon, including a new moon celebration?

2. Why is Firstfruits of Barley on Aviv 26 in God’s Calendar?

3. A year isn’t 364 days, it is 365.25 days!

Intercalation Rule

4. Does Psalm 104:19 support a lunar calendar?

Conclusion: the Zadokite Priestly Calendar is God’s Calendar

To Learn More About God’s Calendar

Videos

Websites

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God

Do Not Lay-up Treasures on Earth

Do Lay-up Treasures in Heaven

How to lay up treasures in heaven?

Seek ye First the Kingdom of God — The Early Jerusalem Church’s Example

My ‘Living by Faith’ Experiment

Examples of ‘Living by Faith’

My Failed ‘Living by Faith’ Experiment

Lessons Learned

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven Now?

Seek ye First the Kingdom of God | No One C Two Masters

God’s Cure for Anxiety | Seek ye First the Kingdom of God

Don’t Worry About Eating

Don’t Worry About Your Lifespan

Don’t Worry About Clothing

Clothing was Both Apparel and Shelter

No Spiritual Value in Beautiful Adornment

Don’t Worry Like An Orphaned Pagan | You Have a Heavenly Father | He Will Provide

Do Not Worry!

Instead of Worrying – Seek ye First the Kingdom of God

My Alaskan Journey of Miracles

Juneau Alaska

Pilot Training

Anchorage to Palmer, then Back to Anchorage in 1 Day–By Faith

Arrived in Anchorage Alaska by Noon. Started Walking to Palmer

In Palmer Alaska

Back to Anchorage

God Provided All My Needs

Do Not Be Anxious About Tomorrow, but Seek ye First the Kingdom of God

In Conclusion | Seek ye First the Kingdom of God

What Do You Think?

Related Questions and Answers

Presumption versus Faith

Why is it important to seek God’s righteousness?

Early and Latter Rains

The Early Rain Pentecost

The Earnest of Our Inheritance

Earnest of Our Inheritance?

What is Our Inheritance?

Our Inheritance Includes Redemption

How Were We Redeemed?

What are we redeemed from?

What are we redeemed to?