MECHANISMS COMMON TO THE BIBLICAL CALENDAR: SIGNS, SEASONS, DAYS, AND YEARS

These are my condensed notes from the book “Wheel of Stars” by Andrew Gabriel Roth. I am a student of the Biblical/Hebrew/Prophetic calendar and Mr. Roth is a calendar scholar. I have learned much from his scholarly work. His book is available on Amazon. It is not a light read but it will enable God’s people to understand things with a prophetic spirit as the men of Issachar in 1 Chronicles 12.32, 38-39.

SIGNS - And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for appointed times and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth”; and it was so.

And God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth and to rule over the day and over the night and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. Genesis 1.14-19

1. The lights in the sky were created to separate the day from the night and give light to earth. These are the sun, moon, and the stars.

2. The sun is the greater light that rules the day and the moon is the lesser light that rules the night. The moon reflects the light of the greater sun.

3. The sun, moon, and stars also serve as signs, seasons, days, and years—in that order.

The last point is the key to understanding the biblical calendar systems. Without the signs, there can be no seasons, days, or years. The other parts of time literally wait for the first marker—sign.

This is what YHVH said to Job in 38.33: Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you use its power in the earth?

The point of this question is that Job, who is trying to judge his Maker, cannot do what YHVH is asking. YHVH is telling Job that He has set the laws of the heavens to rule over the laws of the earth! The general pattern is that the heavens come first, the earth second, and nowhere is this truer than with the sky signs and earth signs.

But what exactly is a “sign” anyway? In Genesis 1:14, the Hebrew word owth is meant to designate a banner or flag, a graphic symbol of a spectacular nature that is impossible to miss. Let’s examine some other places where this word appears:

“And Elohim said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth…So Elohim said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth” (Genesis 9:12-17).

We see here that the sky sign comes first and is the reminder to YHVH of His covenant with the earth and man. The earth sign comes after the sky sign, and is simply the continued existence of the earth.

Another way the sky sign of covenant manifests on Earth: Then YHWH said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am YHWH, who makes you holy…The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested….(Exodus 31:12-18).

The Sabbath is a sign that defines the “set apartness” of YHVH’s people. It is a “mark” on YHVH’s people, a signal to the nations. Just as the end time Beast has a mark, YHVH’s mark is that we observe His Sabbath!

In another very clear reference, the creation is itself the sky sign. YHWH chose six “days” of creation, and then rested on the seventh, to consider His great work and then to bless it. Without the creation/sky sign, there would be no Sabbath. As for the earth sign, it is the observance of the Sabbath by man.

Finally, there is also a pecking order in heaven with respect to sky signs themselves. Put simply, sun signs rule over moon signs. Notice the use of the Hebrew word gadol to describe the sun as the “greater” light. This word does not refer exclusively to the level of light that the sun produces when compared to the moon, for a simple reason: YHWH knows the moon does not produce any light on its own to begin with! It simply reflects light from the sun. In that sense, the image we are presented with is the sun entrusting the moon with its light.

Another proof of this is according to how the word gadol is used elsewhere. For example, the High Priest is called kohen ha gadol, and there is little doubt that the high priest’s power as a master over the other priests and Levites—as opposed to the extent of his “luminosity” ‑ is the intended meaning. In the same way the “greater light” gives permission for the moon to rise and take its light.

In addition, Scripture demonstrates this same idea: “This is what YHWH says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?” (Isaiah 66:1) Which is more likely to have royal power – the throne (heaven) or the Earth (footstool)?

The final Scriptural validation comes from Ecclesiastes where the power of judgment resides under the sun with YHWH, of course, as the ultimate authority: “And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment ‑ wickedness was there, in the place of justice ‑ wickedness was there. I thought in my heart, “Elohim will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed” (Ecclesiastes 3:16-17).

This representative sample should hopefully suffice for the first major definition in our study. Now let’s move on to unlocking the rest of Genesis 1:14-19.

SEASONS – The Scriptures tell us the seasons do not begin prior to the SIGNS. In Hebrew the next word we need to look at is moed which means “appointed time”.

The first season of year is of course, spring, called Aviv in Scripture. The characteristics of spring involve the earth returning to a state of greenness, which is why we are told in Exodus to observe that moment of the year as its beginning. The sign or signal of spring is the tender and green ears of the barley, the first of the produce to ripen in Israel. Barley is the earth sign, but it needs the sky sign to precede it before the season can officially begin.

If we know there is a sky sign that will always point to when the barley is ripe, and this is in harmony with the Torah in places like Genesis 1:14-19, then no additional procedures are required. We simply wait for the sky sign, get the barley, and go!

The moon is still subject to the solar year, because without it these same holidays that are keyed to harvest and planting will occur out of season. So as long as those appointed times stay on track, the moon is in charge. When it needs help, however, to keep the festivals at their proper time, the sun takes over. In so doing, both the sun and the moon mark the year, again as Scripture says.

What we can also say about the moedim is that once the time is set, the moon controls the ordering of the sacred festivals: “The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.” (Psalm 104:19)

Philo has a very interesting commentary on this verse: “And before now some men have predicted disturbances and commotions from the motions of the earth, from the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, and innumerable other events that have turned out most exactly true; so that it is a most veracious saying that “the stars were created to act as signs and moreover to mark the seasons.”

“And by the word “seasons” the divisions of the year are intended. And why may not this be reasonably affirmed? For what other idea of opportunity can there be except that it is the time for success? And the seasons bring everything to perfection, and set everything right; giving perfection to the sowing and planting of fruits and to the birth and growth of animals. They were also created to serve as the measure of time; for it is by the appointed periodic revolutions of the sun and moon and other stars that the days, months and years are determined.” (Philo Judaeus, On Creation, 59-60 p. 9 CD Yonge Translation) As, we see all work together on the Eternal Calendar.

DAYS - Once the sun hands control of time over to the moon in pointing to when spring begins, the sacred days are marked from New Moon to New Moon. However, this reckoning is only valid from Moses’ day on, because prior to that time YHWH did not institute festivals that were timed in this manner. We will investigate shortly how days were reckoned in the pre-Mosaic calendar. Note: Synodic is the scientific term for marking the lunar month from one New Moon crescent to another, or 29.53 days. Other methods of marking a lunation can be shorter by as much as two days. Biblical data, though, clearly only recognizes this method of measurement.

YEARS - And so, by the time we end up actually looking at years, little else need be said. The days, of course, eventually run out, but the Shabbat count is constant even when the next seventh day runs into the following year. The year also waits for the return of the signs before it officially “dies”. That means that sun, moon and earth signs must all agree that the time is right, but we can also calculate the proper interval, regardless as to the calendar to which we are referring.

Calculation vs. Sighted: Who is right?

The final piece of general evidence has to do with the whole calculated/sighted controversy. In looking at the Talmud we find multiple references to the Sanhedrin, hearing from reliable witnesses that the crescent had been sighted. In return, the Sanhedrin would then give these men a fine meal and lodging for their troubles. Then they would light the lamps that were to signal Israel that the beginning of the month had happened. However, some of the problems of this story are even mentioned in the same source, in that enemies of Israel would also light fires to confuse the rest of the nation!

Therefore, there had to be a way to silence all controversy in this matter, if for no other reason than national security literally depended on it. And so there are a few ways of approaching this:

• The procedure of hearing from witnesses of the New Moon sighting was a community awareness service that is not necessarily enshrined in Scripture. There are no such Biblical examples of such process. Nor is there a single reference in Tanakh to sighting the New Moon, but only about what to do when the New Moon occurs.

• The purpose of this procedure was to reassure the people that they did not have to worry about enemy deception. If they did not go up to tell the Sanhedrin about the new month, they could have confidence that one of their fellow countrymen would.

• If the witnesses did not agree or if none came forward, however, there had to be a final judge that gave a clear decision in a timely manner and this was the calculated lunar month that we will examine later. For now, though, the main thing to understand is that since the New Moon to New Moon cycle is always and precisely 29.53 days the lunar months in a given year will always and precisely alternate between 29 and 30 days, without exception.

Here is how Alfred Edersheim describes this procedure in The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, Chapter 10, emphases: … this brings up yet another difficulty. The Jews calculated the month according to the phases of the moon, each month consisting of either twenty-nine or thirty days, and beginning with the appearance of the new moon. But this opened a fresh field of uncertainty.

It is quite true that every one might observe for himself the appearance of a new moon. But this would again partly depend on the state of the weather. Besides, it left an authoritative declaration of the commencement of a month unsupplied. And yet not only was the first of every month to be observed as ‘New Moon’s Day,’ but the feasts took place on the 10th, 15th, or other day of the month, which could not be accurately determined without a certain knowledge of its beginning.