Does God expect individual Christians to determine His calendar for themselves? Many self-appointed calendar experts each claim that their calendar is the right one. Did God intend the calendar to be proclaimed by an authoritative body—or is it “every man for himself?” Increasingly, we see people simply doing what is right in their own eyes. Is God the author of such spiritual anarchy? To whom did God give responsibility for the calendar?
God told Moses: “The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts” (Leviticus 23:2). But who was to do the proclaiming, and what does this mean?
The Hebrew term for convocation is miqra, which refers to an officially called or designated assembly. In Numbers 10:2, Moses was told that two silver trumpets were to be made and one of their major purposes was “for the calling [Hebrew miqra] of the congregation.” Who was to use those trumpets? Verse 8 explains: “The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations.” Verse 10 explains that “in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months…” the priests were to sound the silver trumpets.
The noun miqra is derived from the verb qara, the verb rendered “proclaim” in Leviticus 23:2 and 23:4. What exactly does it mean? It is the same word used in Genesis 1 where God “called” the light Day and “called” the darkness Night (Genesis 1:5), where He “called” the firmament Heaven (1:8), “called” the dry land Earth and “called” the gathered waters the Seas (1:10).
Later, we learn that God brought before Adam the animals He had created to see what he would call them. “And whatever Adam called [qara] each living creature, that was its name” (Genesis 2:19). So we see that qara means “to call”—to name or to designate. In Genesis 1 it was God, and in Genesis 2 it was Adam, who did the naming or designating.
How does this relate to the holy days? In Leviticus 23, we learned that a certain group, (“you,” plural) was responsible for naming or designating the days on which the congregation was to assemble before God. Numbers 10 explains that this refers to the priesthood, and shows the means God gave them to announce the designation of new moons and festival days. It was not an individual matter for each Israelite to arrive at by himself; rather it was a collective matter to be proclaimed by an authoritative body.
But there is more! Most read right over the implications of who was to name, or designate, the days that would be considered God’s appointed festivals. The priesthood was given the right to name, or designate, those days—in the same way that God gave Adam the authority to name, or designate, the animals He had created. God gave the priesthood guidelines and principles by which they were to designate those days, but He did not spell out every single detail. He gave them the principles with which they had to make judgments!
It is important to notice the difference between the weekly Sabbath that God gave to mankind, and the annual festivals that He gave to the Church. God did not tell the priesthood that they were responsible to name or designate the weekly Sabbath. God Himself had proclaimed the weekly Sabbath at the end of creation week. Mankind was simply told to “remember” and keep holy the time that God Himself had previously designated. The annual festivals were different, as Leviticus 23:2 and 23:4 show. While each individual could simply remember to observe as holy the seventh day of every week, this was not possible with the annual festivals. Their exact timing would vary somewhat from year to year, regulated by the principles that God gave Moses in Leviticus 23 and elsewhere. So we see that while the weekly Sabbath is to be remembered by each of us as individuals, the annual festivals are to be named or designated on the calendar each year by an authoritative body. They were never intended to be an individual matter!
If each of us seeks to determine our own calendar, we will end up celebrating the festivals on a variety of days. Yet God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33) nor is He the source of the spiritual anarchy that many so effectively promote today. Paul told the brethren in Colosse that they were not to let any man judge them in matters pertaining to holy days, new moons, or Sabbaths, but rather “the body of Christ”—the Church (Colossians 2:16–17, KJV). The Church has again and again concluded that the current Hebrew calendar, preserved in the Jewish community, is authoritative for Christians today.
Which Calendar Did Christ Use?
We know from the New Testament that Jesus Christ observed the holy days and festivals commanded in Leviticus 23. Did He do so based upon a calculated calendar such as we use today—one that included the so-called “postponement” rules—or did He use a calendar based solely upon physical sighting of the new crescent? One thing is for sure: Jesus Christ did it correctly! If we know what He did, then all we have to do is to follow His example. But is it possible to know what He did? Absolutely!
The place to go to find the kind of calendar which was authoritatively proclaimed during Jesus’ human lifetime is not the Talmud and later rabbinical writings. These documents were written well after the fact, and record history with a Pharisaic bias. Since the Pharisees dominated the Jewish community after the fall of the temple, their traditions came to be considered normative Judaism. The rabbis who compiled the Talmud were their successors, and often sought to read later traditions back into earlier history.
Interestingly, many who claim to reject the Hebrew calendar because they consider it a tradition of the Pharisees have used the Talmud as their source of calendar information and definitions—rather than simply using the Bible itself! While later rabbis tried to harmonize the traditions of an observed calendar (favored by the Pharisees) with the principles of a calculated calendar (preserved by the Sadducee priesthood), the two are not really compatible. Much of the Talmud’s tortured logic relating to the calendar comes from its attempt to reconcile the irreconcilable. However, we are not dependent on the record of the Talmud, or Josephus for that matter, to know what calendar Christ used. We have the authoritative record of the New Testament itself!
From the biblical record, we are able to match three festivals during Christ’s ministry with the days of the week on which they fell. As we will see, these three festival dates are compatible only with one calendar model—the calendar used by Jesus Christ thus stands revealed by the New Testament!
The year of Christ’s crucifixion, and therefore of His final Passover, can be established clearly by correlating the prophecy in Daniel 9 with the historical occurrence described in Ezra 7. Daniel explained that there would be a time period of 70 prophetic “weeks”—i.e., 490 prophetic “days.” We are told that 69 of these “weeks” (i.e., 483 years) would run from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the appearance of the Messiah. Ezra 7 records the decree of King Artaxerxes that begins the count of the prophetic “weeks.
Secular history makes plain that the Artaxerxes’ seventh year occurred in 458–457BC. The only question is whether or not the author of Ezra-Nehemiah (one book in the Hebrew scriptures) was figuring the years of Artaxerxes’ reign by counting from fall to fall or spring to spring. A careful comparison of Nehemiah 1:1 and 2:1 shows that a fall-to-fall reckoning was used. Nehemiah refers to an event in the month Kislev (December) of the 20th year of Artaxerxes, followed later by an event in the month Nisan (April) in the 20th year of Artaxerxes. The only way that both of these events could have occurred in the king’s 20th year would be if the author was figuring the years of the king’s reign from fall to fall.
This means that when Ezra 7 says that Ezra arrived in Jerusalem with the decree in the late summer (fifth month) during the seventh year of Artaxerxes, this must refer to 457BC. If we come forward 483 years, this brings us to just before the fall festival season of 27ad. This would be when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and began His three-and-a-half-year ministry—He began in the fall of 27ad and was crucified in the spring of 31ad.
This reference in Ezra gives us a benchmark. We also know from the biblical record, apart from these calendar questions, that Jesus Christ was crucified on a Wednesday and resurrected three days and three nights later, at the end of the weekly Sabbath. This means that the Passover of 31ad, the scripturally established time of His crucifixion, had to occur on a Wednesday. Additionally, we will see that the day of the week is made plain for two other festival dates. One is the Last Great Day of 30ad, which occurred on a weekly Sabbath. And Scripture shows that the second holy day of Unleavened Bread in 29ad fell on a weekly Sabbath. Now examine how we date these two festivals.
John 7–13 recounts the events of the fall festival period preceding Jesus’ final Passover. A careful reading also shows that most of the events of John 8–10 happened on the Last Great Day. Jesus’ words in the temple during the evening of this day are recorded in John 7:37–39. At verse 53, Jesus and His disciples went to the Mount of Olives for the night, returning to the temple early the next morning—the daylight portion of the Last Great Day (John 8:1–2).
If we simply read on through the next chapters, we find that the woman taken in adultery and the healing of the blind man both occurred on that same day. From John 9 we already knew that the blind man was healed on an annual Sabbath; John 9:14, using the definite article with its Sabbath reference, states plainly that it was also a weekly Sabbath, which is why such an issue was made of the healing.
John gives us the basis for reconstructing the chronology of Christ’s ministry, noting Jesus’ words and actions on several specific festival occasions. We have already seen that John the Baptist baptized Christ in the fall of 27ad, just when Daniel’s prophecy showed the Messiah should appear. Six months later, at the Passover season of 28ad, He suddenly came to the temple and began His public ministry (John 2). When we carefully read John 6–13, we see that this is a continuous sequence of the last year in Jesus’ life, from the Passover of 30ad to the Passover of 31ad. Therefore, the only Passover not commented on in John’s gospel is that of 29ad—and the events of that year’s festival season are adequately covered in the other three Gospel accounts.
Matthew, Mark and Luke all record the disciples plucking ears of grain to eat as they walked with Jesus through the grain fields. The placement of this incident—in Matthew 12:1– 8, Mark 2:23–28 and Luke 6:1–4—shows that this occurred early in His ministry, not during the Passover the year before His crucifixion. This only leaves the Passover season of 29ad.
How do we know that this incident occurred at the Passover season? Luke 6:1 makes this clear by describing that it happened “on the second Sabbath after the first.” What does that mean? The Greek phrase used is en sabbato deuteroproto, which literally means “the second Sabbath of first rank.” This expression can only refer to the seventh day of Unleavened Bread, the second Sabbath of first rank occurring in the year.
The rest of the story—contained in the accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke—shows that this was also a weekly Sabbath. All three writers link the event in the grain fields with a later incident described as “another Sabbath” (Luke 6:6) when Jesus healed the man with the withered hand. This phrase, taken together with the points made in Mark 2:27–28—that the Sabbath was made for man and that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath—emphasizes that this was a weekly Sabbath day. Luke is the only writer who adds the detail that this took place on the second holy day of Unleavened Bread.
Do these facts provide evidence for the kind of calendar that Jesus recognized in His lifetime? Using today’s calculated Hebrew calendar, notice what the dates of these events in Christ’s ministry would be. Remember that today, leap years are years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17 and 19 of a 19 year cycle instead of the earlier 2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16 and 18. How do the dates from the calculated calendar compare to what would have been obtained by sightings of the new crescent moon?
In 29ad, the last day of Unleavened Bread would have occurred on Sabbath, April 23, according to our traditionally calculated Hebrew calendar. This date results from applying one of the postponement rules, since the molad (or new moon) of Tishri that year occurred after noon and the reckoning of Tishri 1 would therefore have been postponed to the next day. This is the only way that the last holy day of Unleavened Bread could have come on a weekly Sabbath in 29ad. By contrast, using computer-generated models to determine the timing based upon the observable new moon in Judea, physical sighting would have caused the last holy day of Unleavened Bread to fall on Sunday, April 24 in 29ad.
As for the Last Great Day in 30ad, calculations based on the traditional Hebrew calendar show that it would have occurred on Sabbath, October 7. No postponement rules would have been involved. But, significantly, the Last Great Day would have occurred on the weekly Sabbath if and only if the calendar were based upon the calculated molad (the mean conjunction), not the visible sighting of the new crescent. This is made clear by examining the computer model for the observable new moon in 30ad. The first visible crescent could have been seen from Jerusalem no earlier than Sunday night, September 17, thus making Trumpets Monday, September 18 and the Last Great Day Monday, October 9 by that reckoning.
In 31ad, the calculated date for Nisan 1, according to the traditional Hebrew calendar, was Thursday, April 12. This would have occurred only if the postponement rule that did not allow the Feast of Trumpets to come on a Friday had been in effect. The calculated molad of Tishri came on a Friday in 31ad, and only by having postponed Tishri 1 to a Sabbath would Passover in 31ad have come on a Wednesday. It is true that the observable new moon of Nisan would have also been seen on Thursday, April 12, thus coinciding with the calculated date for Nisan 1. However, we have just seen that the dates of the other holy days mentioned during Christ’s ministry only coincide with the proper day of the week when they are figured based upon a calculated molad rather than an observable crescent. As we saw earlier, the biblical calendar guidelines require calculation rather than physical sighting.
There is one additional point regarding the timing of Passover in 31ad. Passover would have come on April 25 only if 31ad were counted as an intercalary year. Otherwise, the Passover would have fallen a month earlier—on Monday, March 26! Unless the priests were following a fixed cycle of intercalary years, there would have been no reason to observe Passover in April rather than in March of that year! The equinox was March 23 at that time, and there would have certainly been some ripe grain for the priests to offer on the day of the Wavesheaf—March 28 by Pharisee reckoning and Sunday, April 1 by Sadducee reckoning.
The timing of three festivals during Christ’s ministry is clearly shown in the New Testament. The Passover of 31ad would have occurred on a Wednesday only if there were a fixed calendar cycle making 31ad an intercalary year. A calculated calendar would have required Tishri 1 to be postponed from Friday to Saturday for the dating to work out properly. And the Last Great Day of 30ad would only have come on a weekly Sabbath if a calculated calendar were used, though no postponements within that calendar would have been necessary that year. As for the last holy day of Unleavened Bread in 29ad, it would have come on a weekly Sabbath only if a calculated calendar were used and the noon postponement rule was in effect. Clearly, the Gospel accounts show that these holy days occurred in a way that could only have happened if a calculated calendar using the postponement rules had been in effect in the time of Jesus Christ.
A Calendar for the Church Today
The rules of the current Hebrew calendar—the calendar traditionally used by the Church of God—are based upon Biblical principles. These rules, as we have seen, can be deduced directly from scripture and do not depend on Talmudic traditions and legends. Furthermore, Scripture clearly reveals that God assigned to an authoritative body, anciently the priesthood, responsibility to name or to designate the annual festivals. This was never intended to be a matter of private interpretation. In addition, we have the example of Jesus Christ Himself, as given in the Gospel accounts. The calendar He used is far more in accord with the one the Church uses today than are any of the alternative models that have been proposed.
The Church has clearly and consistently judged that Christians should use the received Hebrew calendar in observing God’s festivals. It is interesting that we have historical witness and testimony, from no less an authority than Roman emperor Constantine, that three centuries after Christ’s crucifixion, the true Church was still reckoning its festival dates by the same calendar used by the Jewish community. At the Council of Nicea, held in 325ad, the timing of the Paschal festival was discussed (the early Catholics were replacing Passover with Easter, but were still using the scriptural name—the Greek term pascha).
Note some excerpts of Constantine’s decree as preserved by the early Church historian Eusebius. He wrote that it seemed, “a most unworthy thing that we should follow the custom of the Jews in the celebration of this most holy solemnity… rejecting the practice of this people, we should perpetuate to all future ages the celebration of this rite, in a more legitimate order… Let us then have nothing in common with the most hostile rabble of the Jews… let us withdraw ourselves, my much honored brethren, from that most odious fellowship. It is indeed in the highest degree preposterous, that they should superciliously vaunt themselves, that truly without their instruction, we cannot properly observe this rite… [they continue] wandering in the grossest error, instead of duly reforming their calculation…” (A Historical View of the Council of Nicea, Eusebius, pp. 52–53). Constantine, like many self-styled experts today, considered himself more knowledgeable about the calendar than were the Jews, and asserted that they should reform their calculations. Constantine’s attack was aimed, however, not at influencing the Jews, but rather at those Christians who followed the Jewish calendar in determining the time of the Passover. The true Church was not following its own calendar model; rather it was using the same model that Jesus Himself had followed—the one preserved and used by the Jews!
Is the Hebrew calendar valid for the Church today? Absolutely! It adheres to the revealed guidelines of Scripture, was proclaimed by authorities accepted by Jesus Christ Himself and was kept by the Church of God from the beginning. For what more could we ask?
Counting Pentecost 2001
The Days of Unleavened Bread begin on a Sunday this year, and end on a weekly Sabbath. This configuration of the spring holy days does not occur very often. Whenever it does, it raises questions for some regarding the counting of Pentecost.
Leviticus 23:15 instructs us to count Pentecost beginning with the Sunday of the Wavesheaf, and going forward seven Sabbaths until the day after the seventh Sabbath. The question thus arises—which Sunday is the Wavesheaf this year? Is it the Sunday that is the first holy day of Unleavened Bread, or is it the Sunday following the last holy day?
The answer is clear when we look not only at the instructions for counting Pentecost, but also at a specific biblical example of a year when the spring holy days fell just as they do in 2001. God does not leave His people having to guess at how to obey Him in this matter.
In Leviticus 23:6–8, Moses gave the people God’s instructions for observing the Days of Unleavened Bread. In verses 10–14, he explained something additional they were to do, after entering the Promised Land, when they had crops to harvest. They were told to wave before God, on the morrow after the Sabbath, an omer of the first ripe grain. Only after this ceremony were they permitted to eat the newly harvested grain from their fields (v. 14). Naturally we may ask—when the first holy day of Unleavened Bread came on a Sunday, would that day also be the day of the Wavesheaf?
The answer is found in Joshua 5, which records the first Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread that Israel celebrated after crossing the Jordan River and entering the Promised Land. From verse 10 we learn that the Israelites observed the Passover on the plains of Jericho. Verse 11 states, “And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain on the very same day.”
There are only two alternatives. In Leviticus 23:10–14, God gave Israel clear instructions about what to do after entering the Promised Land. We must either conclude that Joshua disobeyed this instruction from God, or we must conclude that he followed the instructions that Moses had recorded.
If he followed them—which he clearly did—then the day after the Passover that year was also the day of the Wavesheaf. The Israelites could only have begun to eat grain after the High Priest waved the omer that morning. Of course, the day after the Passover is always the first holy day of Unleavened Bread. Therefore, the first holy day of Unleavened Bread could only have come on a Sunday that year. It was also celebrated as the day of the Wavesheaf. The year Israel entered the Promised Land must have had the same calendar configuration that we have in 2001.
Pentecost for this year thus comes exactly seven weeks after the first holy day of Unleavened Bread. It will be celebrated on Sunday, May 27, just as God’s word instructs.