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Times, Seasons & the Thief in the Night: When is the Real New Year? By Maria Merola אריאל

© Copyright Double Portion Inheritance, December 2007

http://www.DoublePortionInheritance.com/

Every year in the month of January, everyone begins to send wishes to one ano-

ther by saying “Happy New Year!” But is

this really the “New Year” according to

our Creator? Should we treat this time as

a “New Year?”

We are constantly being confronted with

the fact that we are not in control of our

own lives, and that our Creator, is the

Almighty one, and he is the one who

decides when the times, the seasons, and

the calendar dates should change.

Daniyel (Daniel) 2:

20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the

name of Elohiym for ever and ever: for

wisdom and might are his:

21 And he changes the times and the

seasons: he removes kings, and sets up

kings: he gives wisdom unto the wise, and

knowledge to them that know understanding:

Yahuwshuwa our Messiah is the one who has created all things (Colossians

1:16), and he is the one who has given us the method for which he wants us to

divide the day from the night, and the seasons, days, and years:

Bereshiyth (Genesis) 1:

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14 And Elohiym said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide

the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days,

and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon

the earth: and it was so.

16 And Elohiym made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the

lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And Elohiym set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the

earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the

darkness: and Elohiym saw that it was good.

YaHuWaH, our Creator has given us the moon (lesser light) to rule the night,

and the sun (greater light) to rule the day.

YaHuWaH Elohiym set things up at creation so that the new calendar “date”

begins at sundown---not at midnight:

Bereshiyth (Genesis) 1:5 And Elohiym called the LIGHT DAY, and the DARKNESS

he called NIGHT. And the evening and the morning were the first DAY.

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You will notice that our Creator, YaHuWaH separated the period called “day” from the period called “night.” That is why he gave these two twelve-hour periods different names. And so he rendered the “evening” and the “morning” as one complete 12-hour day! The word “evening” in Hebrew is “ereb” which means “sunset, dusk, to mingle” and it is still part of the 12-hour period called “day.” But once the sun goes down, then comes the “night” which is a different word in Hebrew “layil” which means “away from the light” and it also lasts for 12 hours. This means that a new calendar date begins at evening (sundown) according to our Creator. As soon as the light is gone, the calendar-date chan-ges. YaHuWaH separated the light from the darkness and he separated the day-time from the night-time and he did not treat them as one continuous cycle. Our Messiah even told us that a day is only 12 hours---not 24 hours (see John 11:9). The idea of mingling the day with the night and making them as one continu-ous 24-hour cycle came from Babylon. Babylon was famous for their “mixture” of the set-apart (holy) things with the profane. The word “babel” literally means “confusion.” The idea of a 24-day did not start at creation, it began in Babylon. YaHuWaH, our Creator has always separated the holy from the profane, the light from the darkness, and the day from the night. So while the new calendar date changes at sundown, each new “day” begins at sunrise and ends at sunset. The Hebrew word for “day” (yowm) actually means “to be hot” and so this

means that a “yowm” (day) is the light part of the 24-hour cycle. This means that as soon as the sun goes down, that is the end of the “calendar date.” The calendar date does not change at midnight! But who caused the date to change at midnight?

In 1582, the Roman Julian calendar was re-placed by the Gregorian calendar decreed by Pope Gregory XIII. It was at this point, that Pope Gregory caused the new calendar date change at midnight instead of at sundown, and thus he changed Yah’s rendering of times and seasons according to the prophecy about

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the beast in Daniel 7:23-25. The prophecy states that the “beast shall think to change times and laws....” and this was one of the key identifiers that would cause the true followers of Messiah to recognize the office of the papacy as the office of the Anti-Messiah (Antichrist).

Pope Gregory also changed the “New Year” back to January 1st just like Julius Caesar had done back in 45 B.C. after the pagan god Janus for which the name January is named. He did this in order to manipulate the calendar so that “Eas-ter” would fall closer to YaHuWaH’s Passover. The Roman Catholic Church would then be able to assimilate the pagan celebration of the Queen of Heaven aka the pagan goddess Easter to our Messiah’s resurrection. The identity of the pagan goddess from Babylon called the “Queen of Heaven” (Jeremiah 7 & 44) had been conferred upon the mother of our Messiah (Miryam/Mary), by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 3rd Century. The Catholic Catechism also states that “Mary cooperated in the crucifixion with Christ,” hence they also conclude that she bodily resurrected with him as well! The pagans from ancient Babylon believed that Semiramis (the wife and mother of Nimrod) was also resurrected on Easter Sunday as well (the Vernal Equinox on March 25th). See my other article entitled “The Queen of Heaven: Why Does the Church Celebrate Easter?” This pagan myth was then carried over into Roman Catholicism and that is why the papacy has continually had to find a way to make Easter fall in the same week as Passover. That is why changing the New Year was important for Pope Gregory.

Back in those days, communication was not advanced like it is today, where

news can travel by internet, radio, and television, etc., and so many people in

other parts of the world had not been notified of the change. These people

continued to celebrate the New Year on April 1st or sometime after the Vernal

Equinox which fell around March 25th.

This was much closer to the biblical reckoning as we read in Exodus 12:2 & 13:3-

4 that the New Year was to begin fourteen days before Passover (in the spring)

to commemorate the time when YaHuWaH delivered Yisra’el out of Egyptian

bondage.

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Many Protestants refused to go along with Pope Gregory’s change to the

calendar because they did not accept the spiritual authority of the papacy.

These Protestants knew what the scriptures teach about when the New Year

begins according to our Creator.

And so those who rebelled against the papacy and thus resisted the Gregorian calendar were called “April Fools.” All of this confusion and mixture began with the Roman Emperor Constantine who outlawed the true biblical Passover in the third century and instituted Easter Sunday instead as the supposed day of our Messiah’s resurrection. If the Romans had not rebelled against the Mosaic Law (Towrah) of our Creator, which tells us how to reckon times and seasons, our calendar would not be so messed up to this day.

You see, Easter Sunday is not the true day of our Messiah’s resurrection. Easter

was another name for Semiramis (the wife and mother of Nimrod) who suppo-

sedly resurrects in the East each year from the underworld (according to pagan

mythology). Our Messiah actually resurrected on a biblical feast called First-

Fruits (see Leviticus 23:10-11). You can also read my blog entitled: “How Does

‘Good Friday’ Discredit Our Messiah? Can You Count to Three?”

In Daniel 7:23, the angel of YaHuWaH showed Daniel that “the fourth beast

shall be the fourth kingdom on earth.” Daniel saw in his vision, that this 4th

beast, (which would be the Roman Empire), “shall think to change times and

laws” (Daniel 7:25). Daniel’s vision is accurately portrayed in Ferraris’ Eccle-

siastical Dictionary:

“The Pope has the power to change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense

with all things, even the precepts of Christ. The Pope has the authority and

often exercised it, to dispense with the command of Christ.”---Decretal de

Translatic Episcop. Cap (The Pope can modify divine law) Ferraris

Ecclesiastical Dictionary.”

As for the “times” that were changed by Rome, not only has Rome changed the

“time” of the Sabbath, Rome has also been instrumental in changing calendars.

The Catholic Church changed the Sabbath to Sunday for the “sun-god” Ba’al (or

Mithras) in whom the day of the week “Sun-day” was named after. The excuse

that they used for changing the Sabbath to Sunday was that “Jesus” they say

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“resurrected on the 1st day of the week.” But there is no evidence in scripture that

the Apostles or the first century believers changed the Sabbath to Sunday be-

cause of Messiah’s resurrection.

As a matter of fact, our Messiah did not resurrect on Sunday morning (contrary

to popular belief). He actually resurrected on Saturday evening (the 7th day

Sabbath) just as the sun was going down. He died on a Wednesday Passover in

30 A.D., according to the record of the Talmud in the account of the “Forty-Year

Yowm Kippur Miracle” leading up to the Roman Siege in 70 A.D. However,

since the time after Pope Gregory changed the calendar, all previous dates were

moved up by one year. To account for these changes to the Gregorian calendar

(which would set all previous dates one year ahead), something called “double-

dating” was used when recording previous dates in history. Read more about

double-dating here at this link:

http://www.searchforancestors.com/utility/gregorian.html

Our Messiah would therefore have been crucified in 30-31 A.D. because of the

discrepancy with the Roman Calendars. He was also “three days and three

nights in the heart of the earth” according to Matthew 12:40. In other words, he

was in the heart of the earth (the lowest parts of the earth) for 6-12 hour cycles

or a total of 72 hours from the moment that he drew his last breath. This means

that he resurrected at the end of the Sabbath as the sun was about to go down.

There is therefore no excuse to call Sunday the Sabbath. See my other article

entitled: “How Does the Sabbath Day Point to the Resurrection? I Will Raise

Him Up at the Last Day.”

The Roman Catholic Church Proudly Boasts of its Rebellion Against the

Commandments of YaHuWaH:

“Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did,

happened in the first century. The Holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from

Saturday to Sunday. ‘The day of the Lord’ was chosen, NOT from any direction

noted in the Scriptures, but from the Church’s sense of its own power…People

who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become

Seventh-day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy.” (Saint Catherine Church Sentinel,

Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995.)

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“Of Course the Catholic Church claims that the change (Saturday Sabbath to

Sunday) was her act…And the act is a MARK of her ecclesiastical authority in

religious things.” H.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons.

“Sunday is our MARK of authority…the church is above the Bible, and this

transference of Sabbath observance is the proof of that fact”. ---Catholic Record

of London, Ontario Sept 1, 1923.

“Protestants do not realize that by observing Sunday worship instead of

Saturday Sabbath, that they accept the authority of the Holy Father of the

Church, the Pope.”----Our Sunday Visitor, February 5, 1950.

Rome, the 4th Beast & Changer of Times & Seasons

It should come as no surprise that Rome has consistently been the empire res-

ponsible for changing our times, calendars, and holidays. Whether through

Caesars or Popes, the way that our Creator has commanded us to measure time

has been systematically altered by only one entity---Rome. This is why the angel

revealed to the prophet Daniel in Daniel 7:23-25 that this fourth kingdom would

be the one who would change the times and seasons (mowediym) established at

creation. Long before the papacy started changing the calendar, times and the

seasons, the Caesars were famous for naming the months of the year and the

days of the week after themselves or after pagan deities. To this very day, the

days of the week on our Western calendar and some of our months are named

after pagan false deities (fallen angels). It is a well-known fact that the month of

July was named after Julius Caesar and the month of August was named after

Augustus Caesar.

At these websites you will find more scholarship showing that the constella-

tions were originally designed by our Creator to testify of Messiah and the

Twelve Tribes of Yisra’el:

http://business.gorge.net/zdkf/elt-maz.html

http://www.mazzaroth.com/Introduction/MazzarothDefined.htm

http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2001/enoch_cal.html

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In the book of Chanowk (Enoch), we learn that YaHuWaH revealed his constel-

lations to Enoch. The constellations were named after the 12 Tribes of Yisra’el

and they were created to tell the message of salvation in the sky. These secrets

were later on stolen by the pagan masses in Babylon, Greece and Rome as they

began to rename these constellations after pagan deities or fallen angels. These

same constellations were spoken of to the patriarch Yowb (Job). This Hebrew

word in Job 38:32, Mazzaroth is #4216 in the Strong’s Concordance, and it is

translated as Mazzarah. This word literally means: “The 12 signs of the Zodiac

and their 36 associated constellations.”

Yowb (Job) 38:

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31 Can you bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

32 Can you bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? Or can you guide Arcturus with his

sons?

33 Know you the ordinances of heaven? Can you set the dominion thereof in the earth?

*Example: The 6th Hebrew Month called “Elul” is the constellation called “Ariel

the Lion of Yahuwdah” and is named after the tribe of Judah. But the pagans re-

named this “Leo the Lion” instead.

It is for this reason that YaHuWaH commands us not to consult these stars

(fallen angels) for divination purposes. We are commanded in the Towrah

(Mosaic Law) not to consult your astrological forecast from the Zodiac.

YaHuWaH gave these signs to us in the heavens for the sole purpose of illustra-

ting his plan of redemption to Yisra’el and to all of mankind. We are not to con-

sult these stars in order to gain hidden knowledge about our future. This is an

abomination.

Debariym (Deuteronomy) 18:

10 There shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter

to pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an

enchanter, or a witch.

11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto YHWH: and because of

these abominations YHWH your Elohiym does drive them out from before you.

The “stars” represent the angels of YaHuWaH who watch over the 12 Tribes of

Yisra’el (Revelation 1:20). But Satan has assigned his fallen angels to persecute

the 12 Tribes of Yisra’el. And so when people consult these fallen angels for

divination purposes they will end up being deceived, and ultimately destroy-

ed.

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Janus the Beginning & the Ending:

A Counterfeit Messiah

Most people do not realize that by

honoring January 1st as the “New Year”

they are inadvertently giving honor to a

fallen angel named Janus.

The pagan deity Janus is called by the

pagans the “god” of beginnings, and

this is why the first month of the pagan

Roman calendar has been named after

him. It is said that the Roman god Janus has two faces. The first face looking to

what lies ahead and the second face looking to what is passing. Janus is and

was celebrated by the pagans as the representation of all that is passing and is

getting old and “all that is new and yet to come.” Having the month of January

named after him by Julius Caesar, he is in paganism the representative of the

year that has passed and the year ahead, as the first month of the Julian &

Gregorian calendar.

Janus, the god of two faces is celebrated on the pagan solar calendar in New

Year’s Eve celebrations and he is honored by the heathen in the passing year on

December 21st (the rebirth of the sun at the winter solstice).

Their rituals of getting drunk and partaking in orgies, are activities that would

ordinarily take place on December 31st, and this is in part the way that the

pagans all pay tribute to Janus.

Many people look at the pagan New Year as a time for reflection, which is why Janus’ face is looking to the past and he is said to be older, weathered and wise, at the end of the year. The Catholic Church canonized Januarius as a so-called “saint” in an attempt to redeem pagan deities and make them appear benign. But they are really calling these demons “holy” since the term “saint” in Latin is “santa” which means “holy.” The ghost of St. Januarius to this day is said to appear to faithful Catholics and his dried blood is said to liquefy three times per year when Catholics make a pilgrimage to his see and touch his relics.

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One of these pilgrimages takes place on December 16th just in time for the month of January when the pagan god Janus is also honored.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Januarius

Janus is said to be the god honored daily in the celebration of birthdays with the

making of wishes and blowing out candles. The greatest tribute to this pagan

god was Julius Caesar naming the month of January in tribute to Janus. But

then Pope Gregory followed his lead by making January 1st the official date of

the Catholic New Year in the year 1582 A.D.

At this website, we read how the Julian calendar went off course by ten days

over time, and it became necessary for Pope Gregory to attempt to make correc-

tions to the calendar.

http://www.cslib.org/CalendarChange.htm

The Julian Calendar

In 45 B.C., Julius Caesar ordered a calendar consisting of twelve months based on a

solar year. This calendar employed a cycle of three years of 365 days, followed by a year

of 366 days (leap year). When first implemented, the “Julian calendar” also moved the

beginning of the year from March 1 to January 1. However, following the fall of the

Roman Empire in the fifth century, the New Year was gradually realigned to coincide

with Christian festivals until by the seventh century; Christmas Day marked the begin-

ning of the New Year in many countries.

By the ninth century, parts of southern Europe began observing first day of the

New Year on March 25th to coincide with Annunciation Day (the church holiday nine

months prior to Christmas celebrating the Angel Gabriel’s revelation to the Virgin

Mary that she was to be the mother of the Messiah). The last day of the year was March

24th. However, England did not adopt this change in the beginning of the New Year

until late in the twelfth century.

During the Middle Ages, it became apparent that the Julian leap year formula had

overcompensated for the actual length of a solar year, having added an extra day every

128 years. However, no adjustments were made to compensate. By 1582, seasonal

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equinoxes were falling 10 days “too early,” and some church holidays, such as Easter,

did not always fall in the proper seasons. In that year, Pope Gregory XIII authorized,

and most Roman Catholic countries adopted, the “Gregorian” or “New Style calendar.”

As part of the change, ten days were dropped from the month of October, and the form-

ula for determining leap years was revised so that only years divisible by 400 (e.g.,

1600, 2000) at the end of a century would be leap years. January 1 was established as

the first day of the New Year. Protestant countries, including England and its colonies,

not recognizing the authority of the Pope, continued to use the Julian calendar.

*Note: as you can see, at one time, the New Year had been celebrated in the

spring sometime between March 1st and April 1st. Julius Caesar had changed the

New Year to January 1st naming the month after the pagan god Janus. But as

time went on, Christians began keeping the New Year in the spring because

they believed that the Messiah’s incarnation was on March 25th (Easter) and

they believed that his birth was on December 25th (just like Nimrod and Tam-

muz). But as the Julian calendar went off course by ten days, Pope Gregory

changed the New Year back to January 1st again just like Julius Caesar after the

pagan god Janus. Pope Gregory also continued the tradition of honoring the

month of January after this so-called Saint Januarius. And thus, Rome continues

to display the characteristics of the beast who “changes times and laws.”

Ignorant of the Times & Seasons

In 2nd Keefa (Peter) 3, we are reminded that we should not be “ignorant” con-

cerning the end-times and concerning the words of the prophets of old. Keefa

(Peter) calls them scoffers who choose to remain “willingly ignorant” of the

times and the seasons (feasts, mowediym) which lead us to end-time events that

are yet to come:

2nd Keefa (Peter) 3:

2 That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets,

and of the commandment of us the apostles of YHWH and Saviour:

3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after

their own lusts,

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4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all

things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of Elohiym the heavens

were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

Keefa (Peter) is telling us that all things continue as they were from the begin-

ning of creation, but yet there are those who have conformed to the altered

calendar of this world, and they choose to be “willingly ignorant” by following

the times, seasons, and the calendar rendering of this present world rather than

the way that Yah has established things at creation.

Peter continues to use the word “ignorant” one more time in relationship to the

fact that we are to understand Yah’s rendering of times and seasons. If we do

not follow the times and the seasons laid out for us in scripture, when the Day of

YaHuWaH comes, he will come as a “thief in the night” for those who are

“ignorant:”

2nd Keefa (Peter) 3:

8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with YHWH as a

thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

9 YHWH is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is

longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to

repentance.

10 But the day of YHWH will come as a thief in the night; in the which the

heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent

heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

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The Thief in the Night

In biblical times, when the Second Jewish

Temple was standing in Jerusalem, the

priests were given a schedule. Each priest

had a shift and a rotation whereby they

were instructed to “keep watch” and to

make sure that the fire on the altar did not

go out. The High Priest (Kohen Gadowl)

would come around in the middle of the

night to make sure that the priests were

doing their job by not allowing the fire on

the brazen altar to go out. But if the priest

on duty as the “watchman” fell asleep on

the job, and he allowed the fire to go out,

the High Priest would take hot burning

coals and using a shovel, he would scoop up some of the coals and dump them

onto the garment of the priest who had fallen asleep! As soon as the garment

began to catch on fire, the sleeping servant would immediately wake up from

his slumber and he began removing the burning garment from his body to pre-

vent from being burned to death. When the shift was over for all the priests, the

one who had fallen asleep was “caught naked” and all of the other priests

would know that he had fallen asleep on the job thus causing him to be embar-

rassed and humiliated. The nick-name given to the High Priest (Kohen Gadowl)

was called “the thief in the night!”

And so now we can read this verse in Revelation 16 with better understanding:

Chazown (Revelation) 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches,

and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Yahuwshuwa is our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7)

who will come to us as a thief in the night only if we are sleeping on the job! But

if we are doing our job as a “watchman” by not allowing the fire to go out in

our temples, and we are keeping our garments clean, we will not be found

naked and ashamed at his second coming!

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Now that we understand this Hebrew Idiom of what the “thief in the night”

is, we can get a better understanding of what our beloved Apostle Sha’uwl

(Paul) was speaking about to the Congregation at Thessalonica.

Sha’uwl knew that the believers were not ignorant of the “times and seasons,”

because they were being taught about YaHuWaH’s rendering of times and

seasons from the Towrah (Mosaic Law). Sha’uwl (Paul) knew that keeping

the Feasts of YaHuWaH and following His rendering of the appointed times,

would keep the body of Messiah “in the light” so that they would not be caught

off guard on the “Day of YaHuWaH.” Those who are of the “night” are in

darkness and they do not know the time and seasons of his coming.

Yahuwshuwa will return as “a thief in the night” only for those who are in darkness. But for the children of light, he will not come to us as “a thief in the night.” The Apostle Sha’uwl (Paul) in his letter to the Thessalonians uses the term “times & seasons” which pertains to the Holy Feast Days of YaHuWaH. In the Strong’s Hebrew Concordance, the word for “times & seasons” is as follows: #4150 mow`ed; moweadah (2nd Chronicles 8:13); an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; specifically, a festival; conventionally a year; an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal as appointed before-hand:--appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) solemnity, synagogue, a set time (appointed).

This word is a singular word for

“time” but the plural for this word

is “mowediym.” Sha’uwl (Paul)

explained that it was not needful to

write to these New Covenant believ-

ers in Thessalonica about the “times

& seasons” or the Feasts of YaHuWaH

because they were already keeping

them! Each of the seven feasts that we

are commanded to keep are repress-

ented by “lights” on the menowrah,

as the Hebrew word for “day” is

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yowm which means “light.” And thus, when we are keeping the appointed Feast

Days of YaHuWaH, we are “walking in light!” There are also “seven spirits” of

YaHuWaH spoken of in Isaiah 11:2, Revelation 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, & 5:6. These seven

spirits also correlate to these seven feasts: The spirit of YaHuWaH, the spirit of

wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of might, the spirit

of knowledge, the spirit of the fear of YaHuWaH.

In Zechariah 3:9 & Revelation 5:6, these seven spirits are also called the “seven

eyes” of YaHuWaH. Aha! Now we know why the Apostle Sha’uwl wrote to

these believers in Thessalonica and he told them that they are “children of the

light, & of the day,” because they were already observing these seven annual

feast days! And it is because they were already observing these feasts that he

said to them “of the times and

seasons, you have no need that

I write to you.” Beloved, those

who are not keeping the

appointted feasts (mowediym)

are going to be caught off guard

by the thief in the night!

1st Tas’loniqiym (Thessalonians) 5:

1 But of the times and the seas-

ons (feasts, mowediym), brethren

you have no need that I write

unto you.

2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of YHWH so comes as a thief in

the night.

3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them,

as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a

thief.

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5 You are all the children of light, and

the children of the day: we are not of

the night, nor of darkness.

6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do

others; but let us watch and be sober.

7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and

they that be drunken are drunken in the

night.

When Does the New Year Begin?

We are now going to learn that there were two calendars instituted by our

Creator. The first calendar measures linear time, and it runs its course for 12

months. This calendar was instituted at creation. The second calendar was insti-

tuted at the Exodus out of Egypt and this calendar runs its course for seven

months and it is for measuring the seven annual Feasts of YaHuWaH. From the

beginning of creation, linear time itself was measured starting on Yowm Kippur

in the 7th Hebrew month known as Tishri (Deuteronomy 15:1). That usually falls

around September or October on our Gregorian solar calendar today. How can

we be sure that the New Year used to begin in the seventh Hebrew month of

Tishri before the first Exodus out of Egypt? We have the record of the Towrah

that tells us that the end of the year is at the Feast of Tabernacles: Shemoth (Exodus) 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of your labours, which you have sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when you have gathered in your labours out of the field. Shemoth (Exodus) 34:22 And you shall observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end. Debariym (Deuteronomy) 31:10 And Mosheh (Moses) commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles. As you can see, every seventh year (called a shmitta in Hebrew) cycles around on the Feast of Tabernacles. That is why Rabbinic Jews call the 1st day of the

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7th month of Tishri “Rosh ha’Shanah” meaning “head” (Rosh) and “the year” (ha’Shanah). They call this the “Civil New Year” because it is based on a 12-month cycle of measuring the “sabbatical years and jubilee cycles” (Leviticus 25). And then there is the agricultural and spiritual New Year according to Exodus 12:1 &13:4. This is a 7-month year of accounting “seed time and har-vest.” And so there is a 7-month year for measuring 7 feasts & the 3 harvests of agriculture (from Abib through Tishri). And then there is also a 12-month year whereby we measure every 7th year and we let the land rest as a sabbatical year. We are also commanded to hallow every 50th year on the 10th day of the 7th month by sounding the trumpet, and declaring national debt cancellation and freedom for slaves etc. This is to take place on the “Day of Atonement” or “Yowm Kippur.” And so while linear time itself is measured in the 7th month of Tishri, YaHuWaH commands us to celebrate “the first month of the year” in the month called Abib (Aviv) to commemorate the time when he delivered the children of Yisra’el out of Mitzrayim (Egypt). As you can see, according to scripture, the New Year is described in Exodus 12:2 & 13:3-4 as the time when we are commanded to remember our deliverance out of bondage from Egypt and our deliverance from sin at Messiah’s sacrifice as the Passover Lamb. This is 14 days before Passover (Pesach) which usually falls around March or April on the Gregorian calendar. In Leviticus 23:24, we are commanded on the “first day of the seventh month” to have a memorial of blowing trumpets, called “Yowm Teruw’ah” which means “Day of Blowing” aka the Feast of Trumpets. No place in scripture is this feast referred to as “Rosh Ha’Shanah.” The reason why in Judaism they refer to the 1st day of the 7th month of Tishri as “Head of the Year,” is because the Feast of Ingathering (Taber-nacles) is referred to as the “end of the year” (Exodus 23:16 & 34:22). Thus the period of “seed time and harvest” cycles around at this time of year when Noah’s Ark rested in the seventh month of Tishri (Genesis 8:22). The Jewish Talmud describes in the Mishnah “four New Years.” They refer to Deuteronomy 14:28 as a New Year for animal tithes on the 1st of Elul (August-

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KKq0zZuf1mo/T3RtsLfjJlI/AAAAAAAAB94/WzJJ41x7JZs/s1600/Passover_Pic_2.jpghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KKq0zZuf1mo/T3RtsLfjJlI/AAAAAAAAB94/WzJJ41x7JZs/s1600/Passover_Pic_2.jpghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KKq0zZuf1mo/T3RtsLfjJlI/AAAAAAAAB94/WzJJ41x7JZs/s1600/Passover_Pic_2.jpg

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September). They refer to Leviticus 19:23 as the New Year for trees called Tu’Bshvat (January-February). They also recognize the first of Abib (Nisan) in March-April as the spiritual New Year for measuring the feasts. And then they refer to the first day of the seventh month as “Head of the Year,” because it is during this 15-day period of the three Fall Feasts, that the harvest is gathered which culminates at the Feast of Ingathering----the end of the agricultural year. What Constitutes a New Moon? In ancient Yisra’el before the Roman Siege in 70 A.D., the new month was determined by “new moon watchers” who stood on the walls of Jeru-

salem and they waited for the first crescent moon to appear in the sky. When they spotted the new moon, every 29-30 days, they would report their findings to the Jewish Sanhedrin and then the Sanhedrin would send out couriers to notify the surrounding tribes of Yisra’el that the new month had arrived called “Rosh Chodesh” or “head of the month.” But in the 4th Century however, under the Jewish Council called “Hillel II” the Sanhedrin determined that it was too difficult to keep the times and the seasons according to the “sighted moon” in Yisra’el and so they began using an alter-nate method of determining a new month based on a Greek Mathematician’s calculations. Because, they were in diaspora and they could not site the moon from Jerusalem, a man-made calculation was used to determine the months in the year. Hence, today the calendar used in Judaism is based on the “conjunct- moon” (the dark moon) rather than the “sighted moon” which our Creator commands us to keep. In Deuteronomy 16:1, the command he gave is to “observe the month Abib.” The Hebrew word for observe is shamar, which means “to watch narrowly for, to be a watchman.” The Hebrew word for month is chodesh which literally means new moon. In other words, we are commanded to watch for the new moon! Since 1948 when Yisra’el became a State, there has been no excuse to continue using a pre-fixed calendar, yet the Jewish Sanhedrin has not made a ruling on this matter and so the rest of the known Jewish world goes along with this calendar. See the link below for a

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more detailed explanation of what constitutes a new moon according to scrip-ture:

http://www.yrm.org/whatisbiblicalnewmoon.htm

After YaHuWaH delivered the children of Yisra’el out of Mitzrayim (Egypt), he

wanted us to commemorate the time when he delivered us out of the bondage

of sin and death. From that point moving forward, YaHuWaH commanded

Mosheh (Moses) and Aharown (Aaron) to begin the year in the 1st month

called “Abib” or in Modern Hebrew “Aviv” or Nisan.

Shemoth (Exodus) 12:

1 And YHWH spoke unto Mosheh and Aharown in the land of Mitzrayim (Egypt)

saying,

2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first

month of the year to you.

This was to fall every year 14 days before YaHuWaH’s Passover (Pesach) in the

month of the Abib (Aviv). In Nehemiah 2:1 & Esther 3:7, this first month on the

Hebrew calendar began to be called “Nisan” while the House of Judah were in

Babylonian exile. Today, the rabbinic calendar still uses the Babylonian name

of “Nisan” for the month of “Abib.”

The word “Abib” in the Strong’s Hebrew Concordance has the following

definition:

# 24 ‘abiyb aw-beeb’ from an

unused root (meaning to be

tender); green, i.e. a young

ear of grain; hence, the name

of the month Abib or Nisan:--

Abib, ear, green ears of

corn (not maize).

http://www.yrm.org/whatisbiblicalnewmoon.htmhttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iZobOAOKqHU/TvxIt7qC3qI/AAAAAAAABHA/Gkf4dKPaxDc/s1600/BARLEY.jpg

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Every year in Yisra’el, we determine a New Year by three things according

to Genesis 1:14: the sun, the moon & the stars. We first determine a New Year

by the full rotation of the earth around the sun (365 days) which is called a

circuit. The Hebrew word for “circuit” in scripture is seen in the Strong’s

Concordance as follows:

#8622 tquwphah tek-oo-faw’ or tquphah {tek-oo-faw’}; from 5362; a revolu-

tion of the sun, course, (of time) lapse:--circuit, come about, end.

Here, King Dawiyd (David) speaks of the revolution of the sun each year which

is the same Hebrew word “tquwphah:”

Tehilliym (Psalm) 19:6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. Secondly we look for the new moon following the Vernal Equinox (around March 21st - 25th) when the earth has made a full rotation (revolution) around the Sun. But thirdly, we look for the constellation of the Ram over Yisra’el (Aries) because the Ram is symbolic of the first-born son. The Ram was first seen caught in the thickets (Genesis 22:13) when Abraham offered up his first-born son Yitzchaq (Isaac). Our Messiah also became the first-born of every creature (Colossians 1:15) when he resurrected from the dead, and he has given us the right to become first-born sons when we are born-again of incorruptible seed (1st Peter 1:23). When the Ram is seen over Yisra’el, and the first crescent moon appears, then we know that it is the month of Abib (when the barley is green). You can download the Stellarium software below to look for the constellations over Yisra’el which prophetically point to YaHuWaH’s Feasts.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w-Ztu_E3Llo/TvxI8AeoifI/AAAAAAAABHM/OARLQc67BLY/s1600/gen22-11.jpg

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http://stellarium.org/

*Note: we are commanded not to

use the constellations for

fortune-telling and divination

according to Deuteronomy

18:10-11. The constellations are

to be used only for determining

the times and the seasons

according to Genesis 1:14.

And then finally when the

first ripening of the barley

harvest is seen, we can know

for sure that the New Year has arrived. We are not supposed to determine our

calendar by some fixed pre-determined date that man calculates according to

his confused rendering of time. As soon as the barley is “Abib” and the new

moon appears following the Vernal Equinox, we can accurately say it is “Rosh

ha’Shanah” or the “Head of the Year” according to Yah’s rendering of time:

Shemoth (Exodus) 13:

3 And Mosheh said unto the people, Remember this day, in which you came out

from Mitzrayim (Egypt), out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand

YHWH brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.

4 This day came you out in the month Abib (Aviv).

Now, some people have written to me questioning my use of the term Vernal

Equinox, because the pagans also refer to this time of year as an important time

for their sun-god worship rituals. But the dictionary also defines this term for

us: Vernal Equinox:

“Either of the two points on the celestial sphere where the celestial equator intersects the

ecliptic; either of the two times each year (as about March 21 and September 23) when

the sun crosses the equator and day and night are everywhere on earth of

approximately equal length.”

http://stellarium.org/http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3UiFIGuDJgY/TvxJC537DCI/AAAAAAAABHY/6qCv5ld-_VE/s1600/ram-aries.jpg

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As you can see, this term Equinox is simply a marking point for spring & autumn

wherein both times of the year, the day-time and the night-time are of equal

length, indicating that the earth has made a full revolution around the sun on

the Vernal Equinox in the spring. This is how we know that it is a new solar

year. Our creator’s calendar is based off of these three heavenly luminaries

created in Genesis 1:14: the sun, the moon and the stars. Therefore, all three wit-

nesses must testify that it is a new year.

Our Heavenly Father is the one who has the authority to “know” the times and

the seasons:

Maaseh Shlichiym (Acts) 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the

times or the seasons, which the Father has put in his own power.

And so we cannot presumptuously predict when the New Year begins. It is not

determined by the Pope, nor by the Rabbi’s within Judaism, nor by any scientist

or astronomer. The times and the seasons are determined by our Heavenly

Father who has put these things into his own power, and it is he who has given

us the method for which he wants us to measure these times and seasons.

If you are interested in following YaHuWaH’s rendering of “times and seasons”

so that you will not be “ignorant” at the day when he returns, then I want to

suggest that you order the Biblical calendar here at Michael Rood’s website:

http://michaelrood.tv/biblical-hebrew-calendar

I have been using this calendar since 2006, and it has really opened up my

understanding of biblical prophecy. You can also view Nehemia Gordon’s

Karaite Hebrew calendar at this link:

http://www.karaite-korner.org/holiday_dates.shtml

http://michaelrood.tv/biblical-hebrew-calendarhttp://www.karaite-korner.org/holiday_dates.shtml

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*Note to the reader:

In all of my articles, I am quoting from the 1634 King James Version of the Bible, (unless otherwise stated). However, I have updated archaic words such as “thee, thou, art, hitherto, thy, thine” etc. I have also restored the sacred names of deity as they have been removed 7,000 times from the original Hebrew Scriptures. Instead of “the LORD” I use four English letters to represent the four Hebrew letters in our Creator’s name: Yod, Hey, Waw, Hey as YHWH (called the Tetragrammaton). I have inserted lower case letters into YaHuWaH to aid in pronunciation. The word “God” has been restored to the Hebrew “Elohiym”, and the Messiah’s name has been restored from “Jesus” to ancient Hebrew for “Joshua” which is represented by six Hebrew Letters: Yod, Hey, Waw, Shin, Waw, Ayin (YHWSWA). I spell the name of our Messiah as Yahuwshuwa which can be seen in the Strong’s Hebrew Concordance #3091. The modern spelling is Yehowshuwa because of something called “the pre-tonal shortening rule” that was purposely invented to conceal the name of our Heavenly Father. After the Babylonian Captivity, the House of Judah deliberately placed a “ban” on pronouncing the name of our Creator and today in Judaism, they simply refer to him as “ha’Shem” (the name) or “Adonai” (master). But scripture commands us to “call upon the name of YHWH” for salvation (Joel 2:32, Romans 10:13). Hence this “ban” on pronouncing the name of our Creator is a violation of the 3rd Commandment “you shall not take the name of YHWH in vain.” That word for “vain” means “to make his name empty.” Also, for the title “Messiah” I use the Hebrew word Mashiyach from the Hebrew text the letters appear as: Mem, Shin, Yod, Chets (MSYC). Also, there are many names of patriarchs and biblical personalities whose names contain the first three letters of our Father’s name (called the trigrammaton). Examples of these names are: YaHuW’ceph (Joseph), YaHuW’shuwa (Joshua), YaHuW’chanon (John), YaHuW’nathan (Jonathan), EliYaHuW (Elijah), YirmeYaHuW (Jeremiah), YeshaYaHuW (Isaiah), have the first three letters to the Creators name in them. I have restored those names where ever possible and I also include the Hebrew names for books of the Bible with the English name in parenthesis. In Modern Hebrew, the Creator’s name has been removed, from many of these names and they have been shortened to: Y’shua (Joshua), Yosef (Joseph), Yonathan (Jonathan) etc. The reason for this is because in the Jewish Talmud there is a man-made law that enforces a “ban” on pronouncing the sacred name of our Creator. This is against the scriptures, as we are commanded not to “add nor remove” words from the original inspired scriptures (see Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32, Proverbs 4:6, Revelation 22:18-19). Why should this matter? In Zephaniah 3:9 we read an important end-time prophecy about how YaHuWaH is going to restore the human race back to a “pure language” so that we may all “call upon him with one consent.” That pure language is Ancient Hebrew as we find that our Creator actually created the Hebrew Alphabet at Creation. Here is how it reads in the original Hebrew Old Testament:

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Bereshiyth (Genesis) 1:1 In the beginning Elohiym created את ALEF & TAW the

heaven (shamayim) and ואת WAW, ALEF & TAW the earth (erets).

The first and last letter of the Hebrew Alphabet is called the “Alef” (A) and the “Taw” (T). These letters are seen in Ancient Paleo Hebrew Pictographs as “the red heifer” or the ox head אand the two sticks (the cross) ת

The letter “Waw” is a picture of the “nail” or the “tent peg.” Hence, the message in these three letters is: “the red heifer sacrifice, the nail, and the cross!” Since there are 22 Letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and YaHuWaH created us in his image and by the “spoken word” (made up of letters) these letters contain “frequencies” by which everything in the material world exists! That is why there are 22 strands in the human DNA! In Revelation 1:8, 1:11, 21:6, 22:13, the Messiah is called “the Alef & Taw” (Alpha & Omega) in Greek. The entire Hebrew Alphabet is a schematic of him! Hence the reason why being restored to the Edenic Language from creation is part of the “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21).

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Maria Merola is the founder of Double Portion Inheritance

since 2007, and she is an author of many books and

teachings. Visit Maria’s website at:

http://www.DoublePortionInheritance.com

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