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5 difference between the months of the Hillel II calendar and those spoken of by Nehemiah, Ezra, Zachariah and Esther

The Hillel II calendar bares mention of Babylonian month names that were used by Zachariah, Esther, Ezra and Nehemiah in the bible, but there are a number of differences between the Adar month of the current Jewish calendar and the Adar mentioned by Ezra or the Sivan month of the Rabbinic calendar and the Sivan mentioned by Esther. It is important to note that just because there remains the use of these ancient names of these months by modern day Israel and the synagogue, this does not mean that they represent a continuation of not just the original calendar of scripture, but even the original calendar of ancient Babylon from where their month names derive. 

  1. These names are only of biblical significance in that they show compatibility with the original month numbers

It seems as though many who seek the God of Israel and His calendar use the Babylonian names of months thinking that these names have come from our creator. This just isn’t true, because of the old saying ‘not everything in the bible is biblical’. The book of Job is a good example where it has passages of bad advice and incorrect judgement from his friends. It’s scripture in a way, but also understand that it is not scriptural. Interpretation needs wisdom and so too with the Babylonian month names mentioned in scripture.

Zec 7:1 “And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu.”

Est 2:16. “So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.”

Neh 2:1  And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. 

Est 3:7  In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar. 

There is no doubt that originally the Babylonian months were basically identical with the Hebrew reckoning of months and so in using the vernacular descriptions of the months of the empire, people like Nehemiah would say that Babylonian months lined up with the biblical months that were originally just numbered. This is certainly no rubber stamp that the names the Babylonians gave are of divine importance, they are not, however this didn’t stop those of the rabbinic calendar to seek special meaning from Babylonian names. 

One such example is in the attempt of the rabbis to make the seventh month the beginning of a new year despite Exodus 12:2 saying that the head of the months is the first month of the year. To legitimise changing the new year, the rabbis have said that the name of the seventh month speaks of the creation of the world being on that day. Of course they are referring to the Babylonian month name of Tishri and say that if you scramble the letters of בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית (Hebrew for ‘in the beginning’) you can get ‘first of Tishri’ in Hebrew. 

This is just a word game, but it gives the illusion that Babylonian month names like Tishri have divine importance. The names have zero importance in this regard, but they have exceptional value in showing that the Babylonian way of deriving months was congruent with Israel’s way. 

Another way of demonstrating the lack of inspiration in the month names of the Babylonians lies in month Tammuz. In Ezekiel 8:14, we see women ‘weeping for Tammuz’ and are rebuked for their spiritually adulterous behaviour. I doubt the creator therefore has inspired the fourth month to be called ‘Tammuz’.

  1. The original Babylonian months were derived by the sighting of the moon

The rabbis themselves state that the original calendar was derived from the sighting of the crescent new moon. Thus, sadly even if there was another ‘new year’ at the beginning of Tishri, still it does not correspond with the original Babylonian month of Tishri. It would correspond in name only. The ‘astronomical diaries’ of Chaldean astronomers have proven that the original Babylonian months were based on the sighting of the new moon. The descriptions of the new moon being ‘faint’, or ‘bright’ and the descriptions of ‘cloud’ and ‘haze’ preventing observation, demonstrate that there was genuine need to see the new moon crescent. Also the descriptions of the lag time between sunset and moonset point to the crescent and not full moon or any other ideas of different moon sightings. Finally with the use of NASA and careful calculations, experts have pinpointed to the day where the moon was at; all of which points to the ancient practice of sighting the new moon. 

A great paper to read on the data that has come forward from ‘the astronomical diaries’ is Sacha Stern’s article: https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2008JHA….39…19S

  1. The original Babylonian months were not governed by calculation

The original Babylonian months like Sivan and Chislev were not governed by pure mathematics as is the case with the Hillel II calendar. One of the major differences between the Hillel II calendar and the original biblical calendar (with congruent Babylonian months) is that the mathematics which oversees the Hillel II calendar was first put forward in 432 BCE (beginning in Greece) and therefore cannot be the original way of determining months. The Metonic cycle of 19 years with its leap months is the genius work of the mathematician Meton of Athens, but although with precision it can fix the lunar cycle within the solar cycle, this may be great in a sense of prediction for the day of sighting, but could never be the original method of sighting. 

One can perhaps understand why the rabbis turned to mathematics when the Jewish people were in exile and unable to see the moon in Israel, but for some reason the mathematics used does not determine the first day for observing the crescent, but is rather concerning what is called molad which is to do the conjunction (fully dark) of the moon instead. Thus, a Hillel II Tishri (seventh month) can often be 2 days earlier than the original Tishri (month seven). This was seen in 2021, when the new moon of the Hillel II calendar began 2 days before the moon could be sighted.

  1. The months never had predetermined lengths

‘The astronomical diaries’ show that at the end of day 29 after sunset, the people would look to the western horizon to see or not see the crescent moon. If not seen they would pronounce the month as full or complete and the thirtieth day would be added and the next night would begin the new month. If it was sighted they would call the month hollow or rejected and the new month would start that evening. Thus, every month had the potential of being 29 or 30 days long and this is yet another important distinction between the months of the Hillel II calendar and that of the Babylonian months used by Zechariah and Esther. The original Babylonian months could be either 29 or 30 days whereas the rabbis have fixed most of the months in the Hillel II calendar with specified month lengths. Elul is always 29 days and Tishri is 30 (from what I recall). Yet another difference.

  1. Zachariah and others could have related the Hebrew months to the names of other foreign nations

Some may be shocked that Zachariah and Nehemiah would use the names of other cultures to describe the biblical months. In the same way some say that saying ‘April’ means that you are supporting the worship of that spring goddess or saying ‘Sunday’ means you are supporting sun worship. However, it seems ‘guilt by association’ was not something that ancient Israel cared too much for and would speak in the terminology of other nations even though the calendars of these foreigners were most certainly connected to astrology and idolatry. Centuries before Zachariah, Nehemiah, Ezra and Esther would record the synergy of the biblical calendar and the Babylonian one, King Solomon did the same thing. 

1Ki 6:1  And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. 

1Ki 6:38  And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it. 

1Ki 8:2  And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 

I am with the camp of scholars who believe that Solomon was linking the original calendar descriptions of numbered months to that of Canaanite and Phoenician months. This doesn’t mean that there was some hidden meaning in Ethanim, nor that Israel was being won over by some pagan lunar goddess. Solomon would offer rosh chodesh (head of the month) offerings that lined up with these foreign months and we see that the temple rituals instituted were pleasing in God’s eyes. Thus, just as the Hillel II calendar describes the 7th month as Tishri, Solomon would say that similarly, Ethanim of the Phoenicians was also synonymous, but these all point to the original biblical description of months being set according to the crescent moon as was the practice of ancient peoples. 

For many coming to the roots of their faith, I would like to encourage you to support the work of those in Israel who are returning to the original Tishri month and biblical seventh month by sighting or not sighting the moon. This practice is most ancient and was across all of the cultures of the ancient near east. It is good to discern that some things in the Hillel II calendar bear the same name, but moved away from the original definitions. As we look forward to the next 7th month, may He reveal the newness of light that we need to return to the ancient paths of our fathers.

Article written by Andrew Hodkinson

40 Days of the Omer – Yshua Ascended!

“After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:3)

Jesus appeared to his disciples over a period of forty days, after which he was taken up into Heaven. The number 40 is the numeric value of the Hebrew letter “Mem”. In the original pictographic script, that is the pictorial script from which the ancient Hebrew or Paleo-Hebrew developed, the letter “Mem” resembled waves of water.

Waves of water have much to do with Jesus’ ascension into Heaven for the following reason: In Genesis 1:6-8, God makes a firmament (expanse) to separate the waters below the firmament from the waters above it. God calls this firmament “Sham-mayim”. This Hebrew word “Sham-mayim” is translated into English as “sky” but it is also the Hebrew word for “Heaven”. However, “Sham-mayim” sounds like two Hebrew words: “sham”, which means “there is” and “mayim”, which means “water”. So “Sham-mayim” in actual fact means “there is water”, because the firmament (expanse) is the divide between the waters below it and the waters above it.

Just as the mighty waves of the sea cover the Earth, so too the even mightier waters are above the firmament of the heavens. For Jesus to have ascended into the highest Heaven, he would have had to ascend through this expanse or firmament called Sham-mayim, which is Hebrew for “there is water”.

The 26th of May 2022 was the 40th day of the counting of the Omer, counting from Jesus as firstfruits from amongst the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20) on “the day after the [regular] Shabat”, immediately following Shabat haGadol, the Great and special Shabat day designated for Passover, the eve of which Yshua fulfilled the Passover lamb through His own death on the cross (Leviticus 23:9-11). 40th of Omer is not a religious holiday in Judaism, HOWEVER, to US it is of GREAT significance, as we read in Acts 1:3 “After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”

And here is the last thing that Jesus spoke about when He was with His disciples in Bethany, before He ascended into Heaven: Acts 1:6 So when they came together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. 10They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.” 

We know, according to Luke, that Jesus made this last instruction in Bethany, near Jerusalem, AFTER he had met with them in Galilee and given them the Great Commission:

“When Jesus had led them out as far as Bethany, He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51While He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven. 52And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53praising God continually in the temple.” (Luke 24:50)

So TODAY is that 40th day and joy fills our hearts, because we who fix our eyes on Yshua, the *pioneer* and perfector of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), know that ever since THAT day, he sits at the RIGHT HAND OF THE THRONE OF GOD!!!

God’s Calender – A Lesson in Readiness

Our Heavenly Father, who does not change (Mathew 5:17-20), would have us to know that the very special month of Aviv, the first month in His calendar, has come upon us. Aviv is the month of the Passover of our Messiah Y’shua (Jesus), the month of His resurrection as first-fruits from among the dead.

There is a popular old song “Are You Ready, This Could Be The Day!”

The month of Aviv is more about that song than you might think.

The New Testament Scriptures are truly filled with the most wonderful truths that inspire us who have the discernment given to us by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:13-14) and direct us in ways that no words could describe. It’s difficult to express to another the way in which these Scriptures revive our souls and challenge our thoughts and motives on a daily basis.

But like anything in Scripture, we would not be able to discern what we hear unless our hearts were focused on things above, things Heavenly and of God (Col 3:1-4)

In the same way, there is a key to understanding God’s biblical calendar that can only be discerned when we set our hearts on things above.

Whether you take notice of or validate God’s biblical calendar or not is immaterial to this lesson, because everything that was ever handed to mankind by God came from His mind and is therefore meaningful.

God’s seemingly asynchronous biblical calendar is not outdated, but is as intentional as the order of His creation.

We know that there are approximately 365.25 days in the year, the time that it takes for the Earth to go around the sun. What makes the biblical calendar seem asynchronous to the solar calendar is that the biblical calendar is lunar. The length of one lunar month is approximately 29.5 days, not to be confused with the time it takes for the moon to orbit around the earth, which is less due to shifts in alignment as the earth also orbits the sun. It’s all very complicated, but just remember that number, 365.25, the time that it takes for the Earth to go around the sun, the length of a solar year. Now twelve lunar months is approximately 354 days. Compare the 354 days of twelve lunar months to the 365.25 days of the lunar cycle and you will see the discrepancy of approximately 11 days. Because of this discrepancy, some biblical lunar years have to have an additional leap-month, the month of Adar I. This leap-month is added before the last month in the biblical calender, the month of Adar, which in the case of a leap year, becomes Adar II. The Rabbis and the Sanhedrin decided which years would have a leap-month and which years would not. The extra month, Adar I, was added to the third, sixth, eighth, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th years of a nineteen year cycle.

But that isn’t how it was from the time God first commanded the children of Israel to observe the months, the seasons and the appointed times (“mo-ediem” in Hebrew). No Rabbi’s intervention, no Sanhedrin ruling had yet been made to determine which years would have the additional leap-month of Adar I.

The first month of the biblical calendar is the month of Aviv. Aviv means “fresh” or “green” as in “green heads of grain”, by implication Spring, because Springtime in Israel is the time of harvest, the time when the barley is ripe. The first month of the biblical calendar was to always take place in the Spring (Deuteronomy 16:1).

More often than not, the biblical year lasted twelve lunar months, at the end of which was again the arrival of Spring. But every few years, the people of Israel would notice that when the twelve lunar months of a biblical year had gone by, the Spring had not yet arrived as in the previous year. How could they know this? Well, the Israelites were for the most part farmers. They lived off the land and therefore through years of farming had come to instinctively know whether or not the crops were ripe for harvest. They could see ahead of the time that the crops would not be ripe by the time of the month of Aviv and if this were the case, they would wait for an additional lunar month to pass by before designating the lunar month to be the first month of their calendar year, the month of Aviv.

So without any rabbinical system in place to determine whether or not that calendar year was to have a leap-month, they would know instinctively that a leap-month should be inserted before the the start of the new calendar year.

The people of Israel had learnt to watch for the harvest. That is how they knew when the month of Aviv had come.

As God’s children, heirs to His Kingdom, we too should be able to discern whether or not we are ready or ripe for harvest. Through prayer, patience and the continual application of the Word of God in our lives, we should always be able to discern whether or not we are a harvest pleasing to our Master, Jesus, who is the Lord of the Harvest (Matthew 9:38). We should not be too quick to rationalize that we are ready, when in fact our lack of ripeness, lack of fruitfulness, shows otherwise.

Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn. (Matthew 13:30)

When Fire is False

Some of us may have seen photos on social media of the charred remains of Russian soldiers in Ukraine. We don’t know if these Russian soldiers had any intent other than to follow instructions given to them from Putin and the powers that be. How grief-stricken their parents would be to see them now.

A grief stricken Aaron looked upon the now charred remains of two of his four sons. The tears welled up in his eyes and his heart tremored with grief. He could barely hold the pain within his heart, knowing that if he or his remaining two sons displayed their sudden grief to the people, if they pulled off their turbans in a public display of the utter despair that had suddenly besieged them, to make their hair “wild”, if they tore their clothes in response to the overwhelming impulse within them to do so, they would end up just as these two of Aaron’s sons.

Yet it had been all so different for the preceding seven days. the dessert night sky was resilient with stars and extraordinarily calm in its silence, so different from the clamour of Egypt. It was the clearest backdrop to the heightened sense of excitement that hung over the camp as the people waited for the seven days of ordination and consecration of Aaron and his sons to end. It had been told to them that YHVH would appear to them at the end of these seven days.

Out of the Tent of Meeting, emerged Aaron and his fours sons, all clothed in their beautiful priestly garments that shone brightly in the dessert sun with the newness of their manufacture. Aaron and his sons had been appointed by God and had been anointed with the special anointing oil that was made uniquely for the priesthood.

Emerging from their confinement at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, Aaron, assisted by all four of his sons, sacrificed all the prescribed animal offerings in perfect adherence to the manner prescribed to them by God.

Then, as if to enter into the very heart of the Father, Aaron and Moses entered the Tent of Meeting.

When Moses and Aaron emerged again from the Tent of Meeting to bless the people, the Glory of YHVH appeared and fire came out from the Presence of YHVH to consume the burnt offerings and fat portions that were on the altar. The people sang out with loud voices and fell face down at this remarkable sight.

But the euphoria seemed all too short-lived, because something was about to happen that would change their joy to sorrow. Suddenly, fire came out from the Presence of YHVH to consume two of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, whilst they were offering up strange fire from their censors, fire that had been made from incense prescribed only for offering at the altar of incense that stood before the Holy of Holies inside the Tabernacle.

I cannot humanly comprehend the righteous anger of God. Granted, it’s humanly impossible to understand that a God of love could be this same God of wrath. But this does not give us reason to doubt the Scriptures, especially when the Holy Spirit has given His witness to it in our spirits. What I can do is draw lessons from this Parashah. So as I pondered upon the lessons to be drawn, my attention was drawn to the words in Hebrew “asher lo tzivah otam“, which means “which he did not command them” (Leviticus 10:1). It was because God had not commanded these two sons of Aaron to do what they did that the fire of His wrath was poured out upon them.

So then, what equivalent message can we find in the New Testament, a message of fire administered that has the mere appearance of being holy fire, but is nonetheless a fire strange to God, not from God, false fire. Here is one such example to be found in Paul’s letter to the Galatians:

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!

(Galatians 1:6-9 NIV)

If you read carefully the ongoing context of these words of Paul to the Galatians, you will see clearly what this false fire is, this false gospel. Paul explains how he was saved from the most radical sect of Judaism, a Jew of Jews, not only practicing Judaism but excelling in it amongst his piers, in addition to this a persecutor of the church. Yet God miraculously saved him out of this, convincing him of what he was once unable to believe: that salvation does not come from observing the law of Moses, but from faith in Jesus the Messiah:

15“We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

(Galatians 2:15-16 NIV)

The false gospel (false fire) that Paul was referring to is a gospel that confuses the grace of God, the message of the cross, the message of Christ crucified, the message of faith that opens a way for us into a life in the Holy Spirit, with a doctrine of salvation through works, a doctrine of salvation through the law.

Paul takes this much further and it would be best for you to read through the rest of Galatians to see that, amongst many of the other letters of Paul.

But let us not be one-sided in our interpretation of what or what isn’t “false fire”.

In the very same letter to the Galatians, Paul warns us that freedom from the law does not spell out freedom to sin:

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh (Galatians 5:13 NIV)

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8)

You can see then, that false fire, a false gospel, is not just a gospel that deprives one of the message of the cross, a message of God’s grace, kindness, mercy and Holy Spirit obtained through faith in Jesus the Messiah. A false gospel, false fire, is equally a message that deprives one of the message of repentance from sin.

Yet, inasmuch as a false gospel is a gospel that puts people under bondage to the Law of Moses, an equally false gospel is a gospel that diminishes the law, as if to say that the law is invalid and outdated. There is much to be said about this, but I won’t venture into this aspect of false fire, except to give a few examples from Scripture: Mathew 5:17-20; Luke 16:17; Mathew 13:52; Romans 3:31; Romans 8:4.

So then, no matter what aspect of Scripture we tend to make our focus, whether it be grace, repentance, interpretation of Old Testament “treasure” in the light of New Testament revelation, the miraculous and the supernatural, let us be careful to take heed to the instructions of the Holy Spirit, who teaches us all things (John 14:26), giving value to every aspect of the word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

After all, it was of Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron who were consumed by the fire of God, that God said that they offered up strange fire “which he did not command them“. We want to be careful to find out what God has commanded us to do, so as to not be distracted by the things he did not command us to do.

This was a commentary on Parashat haShavua for Shabat 26th of March 2022: Leviticus 9:1 – 11:47

RESURRECTION – A CONSUMED LAMB OR THE HOPE OF GRAIN SOWN (Andrew Hodkinson)

Easter, also called Pascha (Greek, Latin) or Resurrection Sunday, is a festival and holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (Wikipedia on Easter)

A perplexing issue surrounding the Pascha tradition of the Church is that it was not only changed from the 14th of the month to the Sunday tradition; but it also became associated with the resurrection of Yeshua. This is not an easy connection to be made from scripture as the original Passover (Pesach) of the Hebrews was about atonement, a substitutionary offering and a price that ransomed the firstborn children of Israel from death. The original Pesach was described in this manner. 

Exo 12:5-10 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. 

The original Pesach was a youngin (lamb/kid) of the goats or sheep and ‘of the first year’ was most probably a better translation than ‘a year old’ as is written in some other English versions. It would symbolise pure innocence killed to provide atonement for others. By the morning after, it would be burnt up in fire or in other words – be completely destroyed. To see the Pesach as a type for the resurrection would be like viewing the temple animals that were slaughtered and burnt up on the altar as being a great symbol of living! Such a connection would make no sense. The temple system of offerings would always be associated with atonement, life being in the blood, substitutionary offerings and purging of sin, but never life from the grave. So we see in scripture that Yeshua the lamb would be shrouded in temple type language.

Joh 1:29b… Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 

1Pe 1:19&20 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 

1Co 5:7b For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 

Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Yeshua would give a different type of imagery in Israel that would speak of the resurrection. He would for obvious reasons not use the Pascha.

Joh 2:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 

The problem with livestock is that if they die they are useless for producing more life. Their death is good in sustaining other life, but not the furthering of their own lives as it were. This is different to how the Hebrews viewed the sowing of grain in the production of new life giving crops. Grains that could be used for food and sustenance would be sown for the hope that it may be transformed and become a greater harvest. 

During the season of our deliverance, the Passover would be followed by a grain offering of firstfruits of the barley harvest. Passover would always be intertwined with this offering of harvested barley because the creator would make the first month of the Passover be called the month of Aviv – ‘green ears’ (of barley). 

Exo 13:4  This day came ye out in the month Abib. 

Deu 16:1  Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night

To produce harvestable barley Israel would have understood that barley seed had to be sacrificed. These agricultural realities would have been a part of their understanding. Paul used this connection for the resurrection.

1Co 15:42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 

Rom 6:5-6 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 

Israel would not just offer a lamb for their households at the time of the Passover, but it would be followed by a day when a firstfruits harvest would be presented to Jehovah. This was also a significant responsibility to be carried out when up in Jerusalem. The day it was offered would also be significant. 

Lev 23:10-11 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 

The writers of the gospels would link the resurrection to the day of the harvest offering – the day after the Sabbath. 

Mar 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 

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

Here, there was clearly a symbolic link between resurrection and previously sown seed for a time of harvest. 

1Co 15:20-23 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

The connections to the day of the firstfruits are many, but a significant point to make is that the offering was lifted up. Translations say that the priest ‘waved’ the offering. Waving requires lifting up and the Hebrew word used is the same word used for when the Levites were ‘raised up’ above their brothers for certain tasks in the temple. It is also the same word used for when Israel was forbidden to ‘lift up’ an iron implement on the altar. Here in the firstfruits offering would also be connections to the resurrection being described as being ‘raised’ from the dead. Messiah used this raised symbolism frequently. For example:

Mat 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Joh 2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 

His followers would link resurrection to the idea of being raised up.

Rom 6:4b&5 …that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 

The sacrifice or death of seed for a harvest of new life may have yet another connection to the resurrection. The death of plant seed is made in the dust of the earth or must be sown into the ground. The grave is understood as returning to the earth and so any resurrection hope would need to lie in a concept of something going to the earth, where even worms could destroy us and yet we would rise to life. 

Job 19:25-26 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 

Dan 12:2a And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake 

As death was considered sleep, so too, a body dead in the grave can according to scripture be viewed as a seed in the ground that will awaken to life one day. Plant seed can tend to look dead and without life, yet we know that looks can be deceiving. 

The changing of the meaning of Pesach / Pascha has shifted definitions of not just time, but also of meaning. For the Passover of the Church to become a representation of the resurrection is in my opinion confusing. Perhaps this is even worse than how Easter became a synonym for the Pascha. It is clear that should we wish to find resurrection fulfilment, it was found in Messiah being the firstfruits of those who had fallen asleep and had its origin in offerings of grain that were once just seeds sown in hope and yet through their death a great harvest would be found. In this there is a great symbol of the resurrection and in Messiah there is a great certainty of the resurrection. 

Seeking The Origins Of Easter And Pascha

By Andrew Hodkinson

When Yeshua said, ‘It is written’ there can be little doubt that these were revolutionary words. It was a challenge to religious authority to come back to scripture, which sadly challenged some of their unlawful traditions. This teacher from Nazareth would eventually be deemed by the Jewish establishment a ‘heretic’ needed to be slain for the sake of the people. To them, these words were leaven needing to be purged from the Jewish nation as He boldly stated that the talmudic traditions of their elders had no right to ever negate the commandments of God. For challenging their traditions of racism, elitism and religious pride, Yeshua would be scourged with the cat of nine tails. The envy of many would mean this did not suffice and so that ancient Jewish throng would fight for Him to be crucified as well. Religious clergy may have everything to do with the scriptures as they should, but we must remember a lesson from history – you are in dangerous territory when challenging religious traditions. 

Christians have forever pointed to this stumbling block of the Jewish nation with many casting judgments over the centuries. Yet, as Messiah taught the reflective nature of our faith, surely believers should not be so concerned with the speck in their brother’s eye and ask whether there is a glaring plank blinding our own eyes towards our own traditions. Two thousand years have passed since ‘the faith once delivered to the saints’ and the question arises as to whether our religious leaders are concerned with their own traditions being biblical. How does Christianity shape up to what is ‘written’? Does it even matter for us or was this just a standard that Messiah would keep Judaism accountable to?

Growing up in the church, the most meaningful tradition I inherited from my Protestant parents was that of the long Easter weekend. I am sure that this would be no different to those raised in the Roman Catholic or Orthodox Church. Sure, Christmas has the glitz and glamour, but in a deep spiritual sense, the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah will always be a highlight of our walk. It is the crescendo of the gospel accounts and that which ties our love to Yeshua – a lamb slain from the foundation of the earth and the one who conquered the grave. The tradition is beautiful, it is meaningful, it has depth to life’s very meaning, but I’m sure in the first century the Jews felt no different about their traditions that apparently forsook scripture. The important question remains – Are our traditions built on what was written down or just a commandment of men wandering away from scripture? As Paul would highlight concerning the eventual falling away of all traditions that are not consistent with the word.

Col 2:22  Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 

The Easter holiday tradition is overdue for a re-examination and when holding traditions to the light of the word, we don’t have far to look. Truth is, Easter as a title for the holy season of our redemption is a peculiar English word to choose. Most Westerners don’t realise that our use of the word Easter in the anglosphere and missionised lands is nothing like the word used by the broader Church. In terms of ‘it is written’, well let’s be honest… it isn’t. There is no underlying holiday in all of the New Testament that has a Greek form of Easter. The King James Version has blatantly added it once incorrectly, but fortunately since then all translations have abandoned this error. Even an old British monk understood Easter’s unique use among Saxon people.

“Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated “Paschal month”, and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance.” (The Complete Works of Venerable Bede, Bd. VI, London 1843 Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina CXXIII B, Bedae Venerabilis Opera, Bd. VI,2, Turnhout 1977)

I would perhaps have asked the Venerable Bede to rather call it ‘the time honoured name of the old pagan observance’. Whatever the case, Easter is related to the indo-european word *aus-, related to words like ‘austra’ or ‘east’ and the goddess Eostre was thus connected to the dawn and the eastern rising of the sun. 

The Old English Ēostre is therefore a distant cognate of numerous other dawn goddesses attested among Indo-European-speaking peoples, including Uṣás, Ēṓs, and Aurōra. In the words of the Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, “a Proto-Indo-European goddess of the dawn is supported both by the evidence of cognate names and the similarity of mythic representation of the dawn goddess among various Indo-European groups. (Mallory, J. P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 1-884964-98-2.)

The use of pagan names for months is nothing new, Aprilis was a goddess and the Jews have many months in their religious calendar related to the religion of Babylon. However, although the Jews may have acquired a month named after Semaramis’ son Tammuz who was the sun god Nimrod reincarnated, they would never change a biblical holiday’s name and call it Tammuz just because it happens in that Babylonian month! That would be patently wrong and yet the English (and Germanic cousins) strangely didn’t just keep their holiday in the original pagan month name of Eostre, but they then chose to assert the name of that month onto the scriptural holidays of that time. Bizarre.

Fortunately the Venerable Bede points us to a more biblical expression when speaking of the ‘Paschal month’. This is in keeping with the Catholic and Orthodox traditions which refer to this time as pascha, which is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew pesach translated by Tyndale as ‘passover’. The connection between the pagan Eostremonath and the Paschal month is only due to the season of spring; the Saxon rituals of Easter otherwise have nothing else in connection with scripture.

The scriptural month of Passover is described in this manner:

Deu 16:1-2 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there. 

The month of the pascha (passover) was biblically in the month of Abib and in the Northern Hemisphere it was always at the end of winter and the beginning of Spring. A good Hebrew translation for Abib is a young ear (of grain) and pointed specifically to a stage of development of barley and such grains that grow naturally in the Middle East at this time. The Jews in time would call the month of Abib – Nisan, after their sojourn in Babylon, but would never think of calling the Hebrew pesach or the Greek pascha – Nisan. The only connection with Nisan was that the original Abib was in this same Babylonian month of spring. Nisan otherwise has nothing to do with Passover and certainly it would be folly to ever rename Passover – Nisan. Yet, even though the evidence shows that Easter is no translation of the Greek pascha, the Church blatantly uses it again and again thinking that this is a legitimate translation of pascha. It is high time we ditch this tradition. 

The next question to explore is the meaning of pascha and the church traditions surrounding it. The Church’s has a long tradition concerning the pascha that was expressed in Eusebius’ writings in this way:

And first of all, it appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews, who have impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin, and are, therefore, deservedly afflicted with blindness of soul. For we have it in our power, if we abandon their custom, to prolong the due observance of this ordinance to future ages, by a truer order, which we have preserved from the very day of the passion until the present time. Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd; for we have received from our Saviour a different way… Beloved brethren, let us with one consent adopt this course, and withdraw ourselves from all participation in their baseness… being altogether ignorant of the true adjustment of this question, they sometimes celebrate Pascha twice in the same year. Why then should we follow those who are confessedly in grievous error? Surely we shall never consent to keep this feast a second time in the same year… It is, then, plainly the will of Divine Providence (as I suppose you all clearly see), that this usage should receive fitting correction, and be reduced to one uniform rule. (Eusebius (1890a). Philip Schaff; Henry Wace (eds.). Life of Constantine. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series. Vol. 1. Translated by Ernest Cushing Richardson. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co.)

It is clear that the Protestant Church, the Church of Rome and the Orthodox Church have a strong tradition that it was ‘the will of Divine Providence’ that they must change the pascha of the Jews and do it according to a ‘truer order’ that required ‘a different way’. The Church was told that this was ‘received from the Saviour’ Himself and that all believers were to keep ‘one uniform rule’ in this regard.

Let us examine the pascha of the Jews that comes from scripture to understand the different Church tradition:

Exo 12:6  And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 

Lev 23:5  In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover.

Num 9:5  And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.

Num 28:16  And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD.

Jos 5:10  And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.

2Ch 30:15  Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.

2Ch 35:1  Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Ezr 6:19  And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month.

Eze 45:21  In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.

The original description of the pascha was that it was to be kept on the 14th of the first month called Abib. If some had not prepared in time, they were allowed to keep it a month later. Church tradition has a uniform rule that its new pascha is kept on the Sunday where they remember the resurrection. Thus it is called Paschal Sunday in the rest of the Church and not Easter Sunday. The original scriptural context specified a day in the month, and the church tradition would specify a Sunday of the weekly cycle. 

A change in definition clearly happened, the next burgeoning question is – By whom? There should be somewhere in scripture a smoking gun where the Messiah said, ‘I do not want you to keep the pascha as the Jews do it.’ This pursuit of understanding whether the Messiah did or didn’t change the timing of the pascha is of huge importance to the tradition of resurrection Sunday and whether the pascha of the church is possibly fraudulent. 

Where did Messiah state the transferal of definition of pascha to the new tradition that requires:

  • It must be on a Sunday, the first day of the week
  • It is always after the spring equinox
  • It is always after the full moon that follows the equinox
  • It is no longer about the original lamb meal
  • It is no longer about the 14th day of the first Hebrew month

Where did these new laws governing this interpretation come from? Where Jews are considered ‘pharisaic’ for keeping the law, let us at least point out that most are at least biblical and church tradition has plenty of laws of its own and who knows where they come from? Some may say – ‘Who cares? Jesus is my pascha! He fulfilled the Jewish rite and therefore we can make the pascha whatever we want!’ A dangerous line to take. Perhaps there may be some validity in the argument of fulfilment, but should fulfilment nullify how holidays are to be kept and would justify believers not doing it as it is written? Does it mean we can build definitions that reject the biblical account? 

The facts are simple, the pascha once represented a holy day kept on the 14th of the first Hebrew month of Abib and in time it became the first Sunday after a full moon in spring. Someone made this change! Did Messiah? Did the Apostles? Did later generations? A change was made and the question remains – ‘By whom?’ If not in the mind of God, this is just a tradition which the Church keeps in vanity!

Mat 15:7-9 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 

Next article will look at the Quartodecimens and the Nazarene sect in the question of defining the apostolic testimony concerning the pascha.

Lord, Please Stay

The Balance of Justice and Mercy

The vast majority of the world’s billionaires and successful business magnates don’t even give a word of acknowledgement to their Creator, nor do they attribute their success to abiding in the Will of God. Yet they continue to succeed, because they are the best in their field, work hard at what they do and have core principles to which they rigorously adhere. This applies to many of the world’s top athletes, artists, entertainers, leaders etc.

The Parashat HaShavua (This week’s Torah Portion, Parashat Ki Tisa, Exodus 30:11 – 34:35) has something to say about this.

Moses came desperately close to being among their number, save for the fact that he had the additional virtue of love for God, by which he was able to pluck himself out of the broad path set ultimately for destruction. Like the world’s top successful people, Moses had remarkable leadership qualities and was able to rigorously discipline himself to hold to his own core values that were being formed and aligned to the commands of the Almighty. Compare the leadership skills of Moses to the poor leadership skills of his brother Aaron and you will see clearly that Moses was a natural leader. When Moses was up on top of Mount Sinai, the people of Israel pressurized Aaron in the absence of Moses to make the golden calf. Aaron, in his weakness, fell to the pressure hook, line and sinker. In contrast, as soon as Moses came down from the mountain and saw the revelry, he immediately rallied help from ‘whoever is for YHVH’, which happened to be the people of his own tribe, the Levites. It was a desperate but necessary strategic manoeuvre by which to obtain order in the camp, whereby about three thousand of the people died at the swords of their Levite brothers (Exodus 32:25-27).

Just like any of the world’s top successful people, Moses came to a place in his leadership career where he had to choose between success without God and success with God. If you think this is not so, then look at Exodus 32:34. God told Moses to lead the people. Moses was a natural born leader and he could lead the people. God would provide everything that was needed for a successful mission, because of His oath to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God would send along His angel to drive out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. The combination of the provisions given by God because of his faithfulness, together with Moses’ leadership skills was all that was necessary for God to accomplish His promise to the patriarchs (Exodus 33:1-3). A vast number of my own people, modern day Israel, rarely give any glory to God for their success as a re-birthed nation, yet they exist not because of their faith in God, but because of God’s faithfulness in fulfilling the words told by the prophets of long ago.

God said to Moses:

‘But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.’ (Exodus 33:3 NIV)

So it is clear from the Scripture, from God’s very own words in Scripture, that Moses could quite possibly have achieved his success without having any direct relationship with God, just as any of the world’s top successful people have attained to success without acknowledging the need for a relationship with God.

But Moses was no ordinary man. He was called by God, not only because of his natural leadership qualities, but because of his love for God. Not only did Moses have the choice to achieve his mission without God, but he had the choice to become a great nation through the destruction and replacement of the very people who he was leading (Exodus 32:9-10).

Instead, Moses chose to remain loyal to his people and to relentlessly seek a loving relationship with his God. He pleaded with God for Israel and for God’s ongoing favour not only for himself, but also for his people:

Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” (Exodus 33:15 NIV)

God loved Moses’ response:

And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” (Exodus 33:17)

So great was Moses’ love for God and for his people, that he could not imagine an existence in eternity without God’s forgiveness for them. In his desperation to provide some kind of atonement for Israel, he even tried to offer up his place in God’s book in exchange for God’s forgiveness for them (Exodus 32:30-32).

It is in this way that Moses is a type of Jesus. Some 1400 years later, Jesus would provide atonement for the sins of the world through the sacrifice of his own body.

Jesus is our “Immanuel”, which means “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14). As Moses pleaded with God for His Presence to go with him and with the Israelites on their journey into the promised land, so too Jesus has made a way for us to go through life with God near to us, as we keep to the narrow path that Jesus said we should take, living out the life that Jesus said we should live.

We may or may not have the success that some people in the world have. But that does not constitute success in the eyes of God. What constitutes our success in the eyes of God is that He is always with us on the journey.

And I Will Be Witnessed By You

Moses after receiving the Ten Commandments, Michelangelo

One of the things that I love about the Parashat haShavua (Torah portion of the week) is that as tedious as it can become to its reader due to the meticulous detail, there is always a radiant gem hidden amongst the detail from which the richest of inspiration can be drawn and from which can be identified rays of light that radiate prophetically towards the Spirit-filled life enabled by Yshua’s redemptive and finished work on the cross.

This last Parashah most explicitly exemplifies this. It’s Exodus 25:1 – 27:19.

The Parashah is called “Parashat Trumah”, where “Trumah” means “gift” or “donation” or “offering”. This is because it begins with the gift offerings that God required from the Israelites for the making of the tabernacle in the wilderness.

Much detail is given as to the specifications in the types of materials that were to be used: gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple and red (red is named “worm”, because it actually came from a specific worm) dyes, scarlet thread, acacia wood etc. Then there is much detailed specification into the size and number of each component of the tabernacle and its furnishing. For example, there had to be exactly eleven curtains (Exodus 26:7) of goat hair, five curtains on one side and six on the other side, with the extra curtain as an overlap. Much detail is given as to how these components were to be held together, or how they would be carried, using a system of bronze rings and gold-covered acacia poles.

Here’s the radiant gem. It is to be found in Exodus 25:22.

There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.

This is where the English translation simply does not give justice to the Hebrew. The Hebrew word for “I will meet with you” is one Hebrew word: “no-ad-itie”. This Hebrew word, although it implies “meeting”, does not in itself only mean that. It has two root letters, Ayin (A or E) and Dalet (D) together forming the Hebrew root word “Ed”, which in itself means “witness” or “testimony”. It is used in its passive form and in the first person, the first person being God Himself. Therefore it might better be literally translated as “I am being witnessed.” God was not just meeting there. He was being witnessed there. He was being made known. You could literally see and feel His remarkable Presence. Here’s one of the few translations that comes close to the true meaning:

And I will make myself known to thee from thence, and I will speak to thee above the propitiatory between the two cherubs, which are upon the ark of testimony, even in all things which I shall charge thee concerning the children of Israel. (Brenton Septuagint Translation)

There we have it. God wants to make Himself known. He wants us to see Him, to feel Him, to touch Him, to experience Him. Why is it that we don’t know God in this way? Probably because we don’t live according to His patterns. Here’s another word, “pattern” that comes up in this Parashah. You find it in Exodus 25:40 :

Look and make it according to the pattern, that was shewn thee in the mount. (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Again, most bibles forget to emphasize what the Hebrew actually says. In this case, the Hebrew says “look”. We need to spend time looking at God’s Word in intricate detail before we come to conclusions and we need to take the time to witness His Glorious Presence in order to not misinterpret what we see in His Word and in order that we not diminish who God is.

Fortunately for us, we have in Yshua the Messiah all of the opportunity that was not afforded to the Israelites:

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22 NIV)

The Hebrew word for “I will meet”, or rather for “I am being witnessed” has as we have discussed, a root of “ED”, which means “witness”. This same root appears in another item that features in this Parashah. Into the Ark of the Covenant was to go the Testimony, that is the words of God that were written down by Moses. The Hebrew for Testimony is “Ed-oot”. Here again, the root letters “ED” imply that the written Word of God is in fact a testimony to us.

So two “witnesses” are presented to us in this Parashah. The one witness is that of God’s Presence and the other witness is that of God’s Word. As people of the New Covenant of Yshua the Messiah, we too should have in our lives the witness of God’s Word together with the witness of God’s Presence. That requires some serious setting aside of our time.

Although we can set times aside any day of the week in order to encounter God, the Shabbat is God’s gift to us to truly set aside every work obligation and encounter Him. There is no direct command in Scripture to limit worship only to the Shabbat. However, by implication, Shabbat is an ideal day to worship God. I say this because Scripture clearly provides an association between rest and worship:

In God alone my soul finds rest (Psalm 62:1 Berean Study Bible)

If you are looking for a day in which we are instructed, even commanded (fourth commandment) to rest from our work and from our labours, it’s Shabbat. However, as King David the psalmist says, you will never quite be able to find as much rest and as much peace as you will find in God Himself. Therefore, if you are going to set aside a time to rest, be that on the Shabbat or taking a rest any other time of the week, you are not going to find anything as restful as the rest that is found in God alone.