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Appointed Times
Yahweh gave man the “appointed times” (moed #4150), what many would
today call Holy Days, in Leviticus chapter 23. The first, given
in verse three, is the weekly Sabbath. The other “appointed times”
are given in reference to the “chodesh,” the new moon:
Therefore, in order to keep these “appointed times” on the correct days, one must understand the lunar calendar. Yahweh had man use the moons, lunar calendar, because everyone can see the moon; no one could be deceived or misled with the many calendars man has made.
verse 6 - 15th day of the first new moon (lunar month),
verse 24 - 1st day of the seventh new moon (lunar month),
verse 27 - 10th day of the seventh new moon (lunar month).
Business Calendar
With the many different religions on this earth, secular society had
to develop a common business calendar. A study of our secular calendar
will however prove that no calendar is without the influence of religion.
Be that as it may, the current Gregorian Calendar (Pope Gregory), in common
use today, is a solar calendar and is unusable to determine Yahweh’s “appointed
times.”
Add Action to Your Belief
When one looks for the new moon crescent each month, he slowly learns
first-hand about the lunar calendar. Looking for the new moon with
other people of Yahweh adds to the unity of the body of believers locally
and, for some, around the world with web sites. It also gives action
to one’s belief system. I go out with my family to a location with
a good view of the horizon, and we blow the shofar when we see it.
I can confirm calendar dates as the year progresses.
Calculations?
The question will be asked, “Can’t these dates be calculated and just
put on our secular calendar? This has been tried over the centuries,
but the moon cycle is complex for predicting a visible crescent moon.
It will always be a 29 or 30 day month, but which one it is will occasionally
only be confirmed by a sighting.
Be Flexible With Planning
The calendar on my web site is an estimate, and a good one from lunar
cycle studies, but I can always expect a change or two during the year.
If it is in a month with no High Day, there is no concern, each new month
corrects itself. If a visible crescent is difficult to predict in
a month with High Days, we must make our festival plans tentative; a High
Day may fall one day different than expected.
So we watch, learn, and enjoy the beauty of each new moon as we seek to keep the “appointed times” on the proper dates.
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