Yahweh's Assembly in Rabbi Yahshua Messiah

Leviticus 23:5-6; Mattheew 26:18; Acts 20:6

We will be keeping the Passover memorial on the evening of April 22 at sunset as the preparation for high sabbath, beginning at sunset April 23 (15th day) is our Matzah, activities will be at the morning service of the 24th. Please contact us you’d like to attend one or all of our planned functions which promise to be inspiring, uplifting and enjoyable for all. There are events scheduled every day, including lunch, most days, followed by a Bible study. While remembering Yahshua’s death can be a somber moment, we genuinely believe that it is better to worship our Savior on this monumental day, acknowledging that He defeated death and is ALIVE rather than putting Him back on the tree to suffer. Yahshua is no longer on the executed-stake; He dwells within us, so let’s celebrate and truly rejoice in His majesty and power! This is a time we should look inward, deep into our minds and evaluate our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Are we striving to do our best FOR Him? Click here for a paper to assist you with examining yourself and you can print it out. May Yahweh bless all who observe His special times!

Feast of Weeks

The Feast of Weeks is the second of Yahweh’s annual set-apart days (not including the weekly Sabbath) and occurs in the summer. It is the only day that we are instructed to count to arrive there. You will find information here pertaining to this day, including general information, articles and an annual invitation to join us here at Rocheport for a double Sabbath observance of the weekly Sabbath, as well as the Feast of Weeks which occurs on the first day of the week. Should you have any questions pertaining to any item, feel free to contact us. It is our goal to help all who are earnestly seeking our Heavenly Father and His Son. HalleluYAH!

Seven Month Feasts Days

The seventh month is a very busy time on Yahweh’s calendar with four of the seven appointed days/times falling within this one scriptural month. These times are found in Leviticus, chapter 23, in their entirety and mentioned individually in many other areas of scripture. These days are always in the fall of the year.

On the new moon that marks the beginning of the seventh scriptural month is the Feast of Trumpets, a joyous time of blowing the shofar and calling Yahweh’s people together. Ten days later is the Day of Atonement, a solemn day of fasting and looking at our lives, asking Yahweh to cleanse and prepare us for His coming Kingdom.

The Feast of Tabernacles commences on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when we gather with brethren from all over the country (and sometimes from other parts of the world), to live in temporary dwellings. We all enjoy the special fellowship that comes when we are with people of like faith and getting just a small taste of Yahweh’s kingdom to come. After seven days of living in temporary dwellings with our brothers and sisters, singing praises, studying Yahweh’s word, sharing food and stories, the feast time concludes with the Last Great Day. This reminds us that when Yahweh does establish His kingdom on earth, with Yahshua as the King, what a blessing it will be!

Below you will find information on each of these days (when available), along with pictures and reports from those Feast days. If you should have any questions, please feel free to contact us and we will do our best to assist you.

The Hebrew Leap Year

The Hebrew calendar is based on a lunar month and has just 354 days in a year (vs. the Gregorian calendar, which has 365 days). An extra month is added to the end of the Hebrew calendar every 2-3 years in order to keep the beginning of the year on Nisan 1, as commanded in Exodus 12:2. How do we determine what day Nisan will begin? Nisan begins when the sliver of the new moon can be sighted after the barley becomes ripe for harvesting in Israel. If the barley will not be ripe enough to make a wave offering at the Feast of Firstfruits, as commanded in Leviticus 23:11, then Nisan is put off a month, and a second month of Adar is added. Adding a leap year ensures that both of these commandments are kept, and that we continue to keep in season with Yahweh’s timing.

Adar Prepares us for the Harvest in Nisan

In last month’s post I discussed how this process relates to our own ripening for harvest in time for Passover, the Feast of Firstfruits and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which all take place in the following month of Nisan. By the end of Adar — the end of the year – the seeds that have been planted earlier in the year are ready to be harvested. Then, in the month of Nisan, the fruit of those seeds is transformed into solid food that sustains us and those around us.

We know from surrounding context that “this month” (Hebrew: hachodesh hazeh) is the month of Abib (Exodus 13:4) – sort of, and I will address that later. However, “month” is not defined. We know, or think we know, what a month is by tradition and reasoning. The same goes for “year.” And how, from the Bible, do we know when it is “this month?” Many of us think we know the answer, and yet we will disagree.

Adar in the Bible

Interestingly, a thirteenth month is not referred to anywhere in the Bible. However, some have calculated it from the dates given in one of Ezekiel’s accounts of lying on his side for 430 days in Ezekiel 4.

On the other hand, the month of Adar or the 12^th month is mentioned eight times in scripture. I’d like to focus on aspects of Adar that become evident in looking at these scriptures.

Two passages, 2 Kings 25:27 and Jeremiah 52:31 , both depict Jehoiachin’s release from prison in the 12^th month:

“Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison;”

Four passages in the book of Esther reference the 12^th month:

The month the Persians stopped casting lots to determine the day they would exterminate the Jews (Esther 3:7)
The 13^th day of Adar is chosen to exterminate the Jews (Esther 3:13)
The king amends his decree to allow the Jews to defend themselves on the 13^th of Adar (Esther 8:12)
The 13^th of Adar arrives, Esther 9:1-2:

“The time approached for the king’s order and decree to be carried out, the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to overpower them. But, as it turned out, the opposite took place — the Jews overpowered those who hated them. Thus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Achashverosh to attack anyone who tried to do them harm; and no one was able to withstand them; because all the peoples were afraid of them.”

One chapter of Ezekiel references two prophecies in the 12^th month:

1. Ezekiel 32:1-16:

In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ²“Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him, ‘You compared yourself to a young lion of the nations, yet you are like the monster in the seas; and you burst forth in your rivers and muddied the waters with your feet and fouled their rivers.’” Thus says Yahweh Elohim, “Now I will spread My net over you with a company of many peoples, and they shall lift you up in My net.

2. Ezekiel 32:17-32:

On the fifteenth day of the month in the twelfth year, the word of Yahweh came to me… ³²“Though I instilled a terror of him in the land of the living, yet he will be made to lie down among the uncircumcised along with those slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his hordes,” declares Yahweh Elohim.

Biblical Calendar

Typically, the months of the year are simply called the first month, second month, third month, etc. in the Bible. There are a few exceptions. Here are the months and their modern names along with their Biblical name when applicable.

The first month is called Abib (or Aviv) in the Torah – Exodus 13:4; 23:15; 34:18 and Deuteronomy 16:1. None of the other months are given a name in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. Specifically, this month is called chodesh ha-aviv, or “the new moon [month] of the aviv.” It is not clear whether aviv (or abib) is actually the name of the month or simply a description indicating the month when aviv (usually thought to be green ears of barley) appears.

The Moon and The Sun

The Hebrew (Jewish) calendar is a luni-solar calendar, meaning it is based on both the moon and the sun. Many believe this is the Biblical calendar, or very close to it, others will contend it is not.1 But for the remainder of this post, this is the calendar we will consider.

Then Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. Elohim made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. (Genesis 1:14-16)

Using both the sun and the moon as described in these passages, we can define a couple of terms.

A lunar month is the time it takes for the moon to orbit the earth. Specifically, the moon’s orbit around the earth takes 29 days, 12 hours, and 44 minutes. We could go into more detail counting to fractions of a second and considering the simultaneous rotation of the earth and the earth’s orbit around the sun, but that serves no useful purpose here. We’ll just call it 29-1/2 days. And since we need to consider a lunar month being to be made up of full days, the Hebrew calendar alternates between 29-day and 30-day months.

A solar year is the time it takes for the earth to orbit the sun. Specifically, that is 365 days, 5 hours, and 48 minutes (and 46 seconds). We’ll just call it 365-1/4 days. And for a solar year made up of full days, we have three years of 365 days and then one year of 366 days. Usually – it still takes some refinement every 400 years or so.

So here is the problem: 12 lunar months averaging 29-1/5 days is 354 days. We are short 11-1/4 days of a full solar year. With a twelve-month year, it wouldn’t take long for the first month to be in the winter, and it would keep moving up by 11 days every year.2 We can’t add extra days to the month and stay in sync with the moon, so to keep the months aligned with the proper season, we add an extra 29- or 30-day month approximately every three years. It’s actually 7 times in a cycle of 19 years.

The stars (constellations) confirm the solar year, and the “signs of the zodiac” are based on twelve solar months not related to the moon.

The Thirteenth Month

All twelve months are mentioned in Scripture, some by name and all by number. However, there is no mention of a thirteenth month either by name or number. There are never any instructions to delay the start of the year for this or that reason, including the outcome of a barley search (which also is never mentioned). Did the ancient Israelites add a thirteenth month to keep the seasons aligned? If so, how did they know when to add one?

Based strictly on Scripture, those questions cannot be answered. Instead, we must rely on tradition, history, and maybe a little interpretive deduction. I haven’t been able to determine when intercalation, the use of a thirteenth month to keep the seasons aligned, was first used. No doubt it was already in use before any formal record of it can be found.

One passage in Ezekiel may allude to a thirteenth month even though it is not specifically mentioned.

Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of Elohim. (On the fifth of the month in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile, the word of Yahweh came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there the hand of Yahweh came upon him.) (Ezekiel 1:1-3)

Seven days later, which would be the 12th day of the month, Ezekiel receives this instruction:

At the end of seven days the word of Yahweh came to me, saying… (Ezekiel 3:16)

“As for you, lie down on your left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; you shall bear their iniquity for the number of days that you lie on it. For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity, three hundred and ninety days; thus you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. When you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for each year.” (Ezekiel 4:4-6)

As a part of what appears to be this initial vision, Ezekiel is instructed to lie on his side for a total of 430 days. He is to lie on his left side 390 days and then on his right side 40 days. The next time a date is mentioned in Ezekiel, he is sitting in his house with the elders of Judah.

It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of Yahweh Elohim fell on me there. (Ezekiel 8:1)

If Ezekiel began lying on his side immediately after receiving the instruction on the 12th day of the 4th month of the 5th year of exile, and he is sitting up in his house on the 5th day of the 6th month of the 6th year of exile, we could assume that the 430 days has now passed.

If the year was 354 days long (12 months averaging 29.5 days) then the time between the initial prophecy which included lying on his side and the second prophecy that took place while he was sitting in his house would be: 354 days (one year) plus 53 days (from the 12th day of the 4th month to the 5th day of the 6th month) totaling 407 days. That isn’t enough time; Ezekiel should still be laying on his side.

But if it was a thirteen-month year consisting of 384 days, then we have 384 days (one year) plus 53 days. In total, 439 days have passed. Ezekiel has finished the days of laying on his side and is now seated with the elders of Judah.

A Reversal of Fortunes

What stands out to me is the reversal of fortunes in each account:

On Adar 27, the king decides to let Jehoiachin, king of Judah, out of prison.
On Adar 13, the Persians are planning to exterminate the Jews, but are overpowered by them instead.
On Adar 1 and again on Adar 15, Yahweh proclaims that Egypt will be overthrown, despite its fearsome reputation.

Some well-known scriptures come to mind that underscore this theme:

Genesis 50:20: Joseph reassures his brothers after the death of their father, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but Elohim meant it for good in order to bring about this present result…”
Romans 8:28: “And we know that Elohim causes all things to work together for good to those who love Elohim , to those who are called according to His purpose.”

We know this to be one of the ways Yahweh works in history and in our lives. Maybe this is that month – the month where physically insurmountable obstacles receive supernatural attention.

Where could you use a reversal of fortune? Maybe it’s in a relationship, a personal weakness, an oppressive situation, or a situation in which you’ve given up hope.

Take heart, resubmit it to Yahweh this month, remind him of his miraculous deeds to Jehoiachin, Esther and Israel, and have faith that he can do the same for you. Take the attitude of Joseph and look for the good that has resulted from evil that has come to you. And, make certain you are walking according to Yahweh’s purposes, so these things can be supernaturally used by Him.

Events

Passover and The Feast of Unleavened Bread

Feast of Weeks

Seven Month Feasts Days

Month 13 – Adar II: But Wait, There’s More!