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FEAST CALENDAR INFORMATION

This article was written to declare a feast calendar that does not follow the Jewish traditional postponement rules. The former Worldwide Church of God calendar dates were calculated through year 2034 AD, the end of a 19 year time cycle. They did use Jewish postponement rules that delay the date of the new moons thus delaying the Lord’s appointed feast dates. These postponement rules are not found in the scriptures. The Lord did not instruct Moses to postpone or delay the feast dates for the Jews convenience or for their Jewish traditions. The Lord gave specific instructions when the new moon and feast dates are to be kept in Leviticus, chapter 23.

This article uses many scriptures as an instruction guide to determine a feast calendar along with factual information from history and very helpful astronomy information from observatories and an agency of NASA.

If we are to understand how God counts time, we must first understand the DARK – LIGHT cycles that God created in Genesis, chapter 1 and Genesis 2:1-3.

Notice Genesis 1:14, “And God said, Let there be lights (the Sun, Moon, and Stars, Psalms 136:7-9) 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.”

The earth has a dark – light cycle of evening and morning called a day. (The present day ends and a new day begin when the sun sets below the horizon, at even or evening.) Seven complete dark – light cycles of evening and morning days are a week.

The moon also has a dark – light cycle called a lunar cycle that takes 29 or 30 days to complete. The new moon or month begins at the beginning of the dark New Moon phase. After the dark New Moon phase ends, light begins to appear on the right side of the moon and continues to increase until it is covered with sun light, called the Full Moon phase. After the Full Moon phase, darkness begins to rebuild, repair or renew the moon until it be new when it is again hidden, covered or concealed with darkness as the Hebrew word, chadash, khaw-dash’; Strong’s #2318, is defined in Strong’s Hebrew / Chaldee or Aramaic Dictionary as a primitive root; to be new; causative to rebuild :-- renew, repair. Strong’s number for new moon, #2320, chodest, kho’-desh; from 2318, the new moon; by implication a month: --- month (-ly), new moon.

The equinoxes also mark which hemisphere of the earth will have the longest day of dark and light. After the autumn equinox, the length of darkness continues to increase and the longest night in the year will occur on the date of the winter solstice. When the sun crosses the celestial equator into the northern hemisphere at the time of the vernal equinox in spring, the amount of light continues to increase and on the date of the summer solstice will be the longest day of sun light in the year.

YEARS

There are a number of different types of “years” defined for astronomical and civil use. Three of the most common years used by astronomers and various calendars are as follows:

(1) A lunar year of 12 lunar months (12 cycles of lunar phases) is about 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, 34 seconds.

(2) A solar year, also called tropical year, or year of seasons, is the time between two successive occurrences of the vernal equinox. The solar or tropical year is about 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds. This year is determined by the sun like God instructs in Genesis 1:14 and all the Lord’s annual feasts must occur within the solar or tropical year.

(3) The Gregorian year is the number of days in a given year of the Gregorian calendar, the ordinary year being 365 days and the leap year 366 days.

To a lay person, the unqualified term year means the number of days in the Gregorian calendar year. To an astronomer, however, the unqualified term year is generally taken to mean the solar or tropical year.

CALENDARS

The Gregorian calendar, that we use daily, was adopted in 1582 by Pope Gregory X111 of the Roman Catholic Church with January 1 as New Year’s Day and the day starting at midnight. Most Catholic countries quickly changed to the Pope’s new calendar in 1582. But Europe’s Protestant princes chose to ignore the Pope and continued with the Julian calendar. In Great Britain and its possessions (including the American colonies), the shift to the Gregorian calendar did not take place until 1752.

The Gregorian calendar has become the internationally accepted civil calendar used for administrative purposes in spite of the fact that there are six "principal calendars" in current use. These are the Gregorian, Hebrew, Islamic, Indian, Chinese, and Julian calendars. These calendars duplicate or repeat astronomical cycles according to fixed rules.

SEASONS

Psalms 104:19 states: "HE APPOINTED THE MOON FOR SEASONS: the sun knoweth his going down." The number for SEASONS, in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, in this verse is #4150 and it is for a Hebrew word that has many meanings

pertaining to the Lord’s feasts.

#4150, mo’ed’, mo-ade’; from 3259; properly an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; specifically a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand):-- appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn (-ity), synagogue, (set) time (appointed).

The above meanings of the Hebrew word mo’ed are usually condensed to mean “appointed times.” The word “seasons” in Genesis 1:14 is also Strong’s #4150, mo’ed, meaning “appointed times.”

In Leviticus, chapter 23, this same Hebrew word, #4150, mo’ed’ is translated “feasts” in some of the verses. Read verses 1- 4. (1) “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, (2) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, concerning the “feasts” (#4150, appointed times) of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my “feasts” (#4150). (3) Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. (4) These are the “feasts” (#4150) of the Lord, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their “seasons” (#4150). In these verses, the Lord tells us that the weekly sabbaths and “feasts” are the Lord’s “appointed times.”

Israel’s food harvest seasons begin after the vernal equinox each year in the month Abib. Read Exodus 23:14-17; Exodus 34:18, 22; Leviticus 23:39; and Deuteronomy 16:13, 16. The Lord’s appointed feasts occur around the major food harvests in the year. The barley harvest begins during the Days of Unleavened Bread, the wheat harvest is usually complete around Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles usually occurs about the time of the year’s end turn when “what was sown in the field has been gathered in out of the field.” The harvest theme, for the Lord’s feast days, is based on the growing season at Jerusalem.

MONTHS

Exodus, chapter 12, is where the Lord begins to instruct Moses and Aaron about a feast calendar. (2) "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." In Exodus 13:3-4, Moses did name this first month Abib: for in the month of Abib ye came out of Egypt. (Evidently at that time barley was nearing the abib stage of growth, when barley begins to ripen for harvest.) In this article, Abib 1 is used as the name of the new moon or month that is the beginning of months.

Also, in Exodus 12, verses 3 – 20, the Lord gave instructions for the first Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread. In Exodus 23:14-17, the Lord gave more instructions about HIS appointed feasts. In Leviticus, chapter 23, the Lord gave specific instructions about when all HIS appointed feasts are to be kept. Notice verse 44, “And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.” (Notice, the Jew’s or Judah was not the only tribe given the feasts of the Lord.)

In Numbers 9:9-11, the Lord instructs Moses, if any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover unto the Lord on the fourteenth day of the second month at even shall they keep it. [The Lord did not instruct Moses to change or delay any other feast date.]

The words month and months in Exodus 12:2 are Strong’s #2320, the Hebrew word chodest, kho’-desh; from 2318; the new moon; by implication a month:-- month (-ly), new moon. [The Hebrew word chodest means new moon or month.]

In Numbers 28:11-14, the children of Israel were instructed to offer the various offerings for all the new moons. Notice the beginning of verse 11 and the last part of verse 14. (11) “And in the beginnings of your months you shall offer a burnt offering unto the LORD; (14) . . . this is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year.” [Numbers 10:10 also states “in the beginnings of your months.”]

The children of Israel were instructed to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord in the beginnings of your months or new moons, not at the middle or end of the dark New Moon phase.

How do we know to use the dark New Moon phase for the beginning of months? Psalms 81:3 tells us the correct new moon we must use to calculate and observe all the Lord’s annual feasts and holy convocations.

Psalms, chapter 81, is a psalm written by Asaph who was appointed chief of his brethren the Levites, by King David, to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record, (#2142 = to remember; to mention) and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel with singing and musical instruments, (1 Chronicles16:4-6).

From the Authorized King James Version, notice what Asaph did record in song. (3) “Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. (4) For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.” The Feast of Trumpets is what verse three is referring to, as it is the only feast of God that always begins on the new moon and because verse four states it is “a law of the God of Jacob;” the “law” that is stated in Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29:1.

(Note: The Revised Standard Version, The Amplified Bible, New International Version, New King James Version and other versions translate the words “in the time appointed” as stated in the King James Version in Psalms 81:3 as “at the full moon”.)

Most people assume this is the Full Moon phase of the lunar cycle that the LORD has placed in the heavens, when the moon is fully illuminated with sun light.

At this time we need to examine the definitions of some words in Psalms 81:3, the words are “new moon” and “appointed.”

The words, “new moon,” is Strong’s #2320, chodesh, kho’desh; from 2318; the new moon; by implication a month: --- month (-ly), new moon. #2318, chadash, khaw-dash’; a primitive root; to be new; causative to rebuild:--- renew, repair.

The word “appointed” is Strong’s #3677, kece’, keh’-she; apparently from 3680; properly fullness or the full moon, i.e. its festival:--- (time) appointed. (In Proverbs 7:20, #3677 is used again.)

#3680, kacah, kaw-saw’; a primitive root; properly to plump, i.e. fill up hollows, by implication to cover (for clothing or secrecy):--- clad self, close, clothe, conceal, cover (self), (flee to) hide, overwhelm.

From the definitions of the words “new moon” and “appointed,” we can determine that the new moon or month is a full moon that is covered, concealed, and hidden in darkness! A-saph did record which new moon Israel was observing: the dark New Moon phase of the lunar cycle... This is the same new moon that David, Jonathan, and King Saul were observing in 1 Samuel 20:5, 18, 24-29.

The moon is “full” two times each month, at the New Moon phase when it is covered, and concealed in darkness and later at Full Moon phase when it is covered, fully illuminated with sun light, but not hidden or concealed.

The new moon in Psalms 81:3 is not a thin crescent moon and it is not a Full Moon fully covered with sun light. It is the dark New Moon phase of the lunar cycle that is covered, hidden and concealed in darkness, thus becoming invisible in the heavens.

Just before the moon becomes “new,” it is covered with darkness and invisible with the exception of a very thin sliver of sunlight on the left side to the moon as viewed from earth. The new moon or month begins at the first minute of zero percent illumination of sun light on the moon, at the time of the celestial event of the conjunction of sun and moon.

Psalms 81:3 is proof that those who observe the thin crescent moon are following the teachings of the Jewish traditions of the ancient elders, which were learned in Babylon! The dark – light cycles that God created, that were discussed earlier, help us understand how God counts time.

We can also know the dark New Moon is what was established as the beginning of months by looking at the Lord's example and by what Israel was instructed about graven images and idols.

Deuteronomy 4:10-19, 23-25 is where Moses exhorts Israel to be obedient to the Lord's instructions. I will paraphrase some of the verses. In verse 11, the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. (12) And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude, only ye heard a voice. (15) Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire. (16) Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure . . . . (It is my opinion that the Lord hid himself in darkness so the Israelites would not make a graven image of the Lord. [Exodus 20:23 appears to confirm this.] The Lord wants us to worship, praise, and pray to him, not to an image or idol.)

Another warning in verse 23, “Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he make with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.” Also Ex. 20:3-6.

The Lord who made the heavens is who we are to worship, not an image or idol. In 2Chron. 33:7, Manasseh did evil in the sight of the Lord when he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God. [A carved image is the same as an idol to God.]

The dark New Moon is the beginning of months because the dark New Moon does not reveal an image to worship because it is hidden, concealed in darkness and is invisible in the heavens.

The thin crescent moon that follows the dark New Moon phase is visible in the heavens. It can and is often fashioned, by many nations and peoples, into a graven image or idol to worship. Most Islamic countries today use the thin crescent moon seen shortly after sunset a few days after the actual occurrence of the dark New Moon phase to start their months and their holy days. They display a crescent moon image as their flag emblem that represents the god they serve and worship, their moon god, Allah. Many times a day, they bow down and pray to their moon god. The crescent image is a representative figure that represents the god they serve and which feast days they worship their god.

Israel was warned not to learn the ways of the idolatrous nations and peoples that worship in various ways, the sun, moon and stars in the heavens. Many people today look to the east at the rising of the sun to worship on the first day of the week and many people other than the Moslems use the thin new crescent moon seen shortly after sunset a few days after the occurrence of the dark New Moon phase to start their feast dates.

The Lord who made the heavens is who we are to worship, not an image or idol. Psalms 96:5, “For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.” 1 Chronicles 16:26, “For all the gods of the people are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.”

Let us look at the definition of new moon in the Merriam Webster’s Deluxe Dictionary, Tenth Collegiate Edition © 1998 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. “new moon noun (before 12th century) 1: the moon’s phase when it is in conjunction with the sun so that its dark side is toward the earth; also: the thin crescent moon seen shortly after sunset for a few days after the actual occurrence of the new moon phase. 2: the first day of each Jewish month marked by a special liturgy.”

WHEN DOES THE DARK NEW MOON PHASE BEGIN?

From Pensacola Beach, Florida, many memories of watching the sun set come to mind. Pensacola Beach is a long, narrow, barrier island that does separate Pensacola Bay from the Gulf of Mexico, very different from the irregular horizon of trees and mountains in Northeast Alabama. While watching and waiting for the minute of the first zero illumination of the sun to begin, at the celestial event when the upper edge of the sun sets below the water horizon of the Gulf of Mexico, the present day would end and a new day would begin.

Applying the Lord’s dark – light principle, the very beginning of the dark New Moon phase begins at the first zero illumination of sunlight on the moon at the celestial event of the conjunction of the sun and moon. It begins like the beginning of a new day begins, at the minute the sun disappears from view. The Lord’s dark – light principle is to start each day and month at the celestial events that marks the beginning of the first zero illumination of the sun.

The principle of the first zero illumination is not the only principle that ties together the new moon and sabbath day. Read the following scriptures: 2 Kings 4:23, Psalms 81:3, Isaiah 66:23, Ezekiel 46:1, Amos 8:5, and Colossians 2:16,

The U.S. Naval Observatory and other observatories wait until the sun and moon come in conjunction at the same celestial longitude, for a fictitious observer located at the center of the earth, which occurs about the middle of the dark New Moon phase. They use that date and time for the beginning of their New Moon phase, and that date and time is what they post on their web site in Universal Time as the New Moon phase. This time is computed for almanacs, calendars, etc.

The observatories are recording the time for the New Moon phase around the middle of the dark moon phase for their official new moon dates and times, not at the beginning of the dark New Moon phase. The fraction of the moon’s visible disk illuminated by the sun is a quantitative way of describing the moon’s phase. The U. S. Naval Observatory does not post all the dates and times of the first 0.999 percent illuminations that begin at the conjunction of the sun and moon.

Those who desire to know when the first 0.99_ percent illumination occurs can use the recently updated (2006) HORIZONS Web Interface, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA, in Pasadena, California, http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi . At this web site the dates and times of the beginning of the dark New Moon phase at the conjunction of the sun and moon can be calculated. The ephemeris generated graph shows 1.000 % as the numerical quantity of the lowest percent illumination of the sun shining on the moon. The numerical quantity of maximum illumination of sunlight on the moon is 100.000 % at Full Moon. At the last minutes of 1.000 % illumination of the sun, the moon is dark or invisible with the exception of a very thin line of sunlight on the left side of the moon. When the minute of first zero % illumination of the sun on the moon occurs, at the celestial event of the conjunction of the sun and moon, the first 0.999 % or 0.998 % illumination is the beginning of the dark New Moon phase of the moon. The percentages of illumination will continue to drop down to the lowest or 0.0 % illumination and will then start to increase back to 0.998 % or 0.999 % illumination. The last 0.99_ % illumination is the end of the dark New Moon phase. (If we wait and record the lowest 0. % illumination for the beginning of the New Moon phase, we will be waiting until about the middle of the New Moon phase like the U. S. Naval Observatory.)

The very beginning of the dark New Moon phase can begin nearly a day before the U.S. Naval Observatory “middle or average” New Moon phase begins. This is the reason those who use a festival calendar without the traditional Jewish postponement rules can be observing the Lord’s feasts on the wrong date, usually a day late. They usually start the day at sunset, Jerusalem Time Zone, and use the observatories official new moon dates and times that are converted to Israel Time Zone, to start their months. Those who visibly observe the thin crescent moon which appears after the dark New Moon phase are beginning their feast dates one or two days after the dark New Moon phase ends.

EQUINOXES

The vernal and autumnal equinoxes are signs made by the sun (Genesis 1:14) that mark the turns of the year in spring and autumn. At the times when the sun is crossing the celestial equator day and night are of nearly equal length at all latitudes so we call these dates the ‘equinoxes’. No part of the earth is hidden from the sun’s light or heat on the day of the equinox.

The Latin word, equinox, is not mentioned by that name in the scriptures but Psalms 19:6 describes what an equinox does. (6) “His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.” The word circuit in this verse is Strong’s #8622, the Hebrew word tequwphah or tequphah, tek-oo-faw, from 5362, a revolution, i.e. (of the sun) course, (of time) lapse:-- circuit, come about, end. The Hebrew word for heat in this verse is Strong’s #2535, chammah, khqm-maw’, from 2525; heat; by implication the sun:-- heat, sun.

As the sun makes its circuit (across the equator) there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. A good description of what an equinox does.

In Exodus 34:22, this same Hebrew word, tequphah, #8622, indicates that the autumnal equinox marks the year’s end or turn of the year, referring to the last part of the year. (22) “And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s "end," (Strong’s #8622). Jay P. Green’s Interlinear Bible translates the word end in this verse as the year’s “turn.”

The appointed time of Passover, the 14^th day of the first month, can fall on or after the date of the turn or vernal equinox (about March 21^st). The vernal equinox, determines the first day of spring and the beginning of the solar or tropical year. The year’s end turn or autumnal equinox (about September 22^nd), usually occurs during or before the Feast of Tabernacles, in the seventh month.

LUNISOLAR CALENDARS

Because the Lord uses the moon to determine the beginning of each month and the vernal equinox, determined by the sun, to start the solar or tropical year, the feast calendar is referred to by man as a lunisolar calendar. A lunisolar calendar is an adjustment of a lunar year (12 lunar cycles) to the solar year, also called the tropical year, or year of seasons, the time between two successive occurrences of the vernal equinox. Astronomers define the solar or tropical year as about 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds.

Lunisolar calendars typically adjust the length of their years and months. The moon passes through its phases in about 29-1/2 days; therefore 12 lunar months (called a lunar year) are about 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, 34 seconds. There is no even number of lunar months that equals one solar or tropical year. There is a discrepancy of about 11 days between the lunar year and solar or tropical year. In just three years, the lunar year is about 33 days shorter than the solar or tropical year. Therefore calendars based on lunar months are out of step with the agricultural seasons. Men cannot add a month to the year because men cannot create a lunar cycle in the heavens; this is the Lord’s handiwork.

The Lord does add a 13th lunar cycle to the solar or tropical year at various intervals. Some men think it is necessary for them to say they did add or intercalate a 13th new moon or month in the year when the LORD has not added an extra month. That could be the reason their calendars are out of step with the Lord’s appointed times by as much as an additional 30 days.

The vernal equinox marks the beginning of spring each year in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of the solar or tropical year. All men must do is count the number of days in the solar or tropical year, from the date of one vernal equinox in the spring until the next vernal equinox in the next Gregorian year to know how many days the Lord has placed in a year, 365 or 366 days. To know the number of new moons the LORD places in the solar or tropical year, start with the dark New Moon that occurs on the date of the vernal equinox or after and count until the next vernal equinox in the following Gregorian year. There will be either 12 or 13 dark new moons in the solar or tropical year. To know the number of days in a month, count from the date of one dark New Moon until the next dark New Moon, 29 or 30 days. The purpose of counting the dark New Moons is to determine when the LORD has added an extra lunar cycle or month to the solar or tropical year. Verified evidence of five consecutive 19 year cycles (years 1959-2053 AD) confirms that seven times in a 19 year period, the Lord places 13 new moons in a solar or tropical year and they are usually spaced two or three years apart. This is the LORD’S way of adjusting the lunar year to the solar or tropical year. The agricultural seasons of the year at Jerusalem will be correct for the food harvests from vegetation to occur for the LORD’S appointed feast dates, Leviticus 23:10-11, 15-16 and Deuteronomy 16:9.

The Lord uses whole days, when the correct time occurs; another day is inserted. A lunar month is about 29- ½ days in length so a lunar month will have 29 or 30 days. Twelve lunar months will usually have 354 or 355 days. Thirteen lunar months will usually have 383 or 384 days. The Lord inserts the number of new moons or months in the year, also the number of days in each month and year. All man has to do is record when these celestial events occur and count.

The total number of dark New Moons that the Lord places in the solar or tropical year that begins on the date of the vernal equinox, about March 21, usually differs from the number of new moons in the Gregorian calendar that starts the year on January 1. (The Gregorian and solar or tropical year will have the same number of new moons in the year on an average of only seven times in a 19 year period. The number of the other new moons in the year are different.) The solar or tropical year is determined by the signs of the sun like Genesis 1:14 instructs, but the Gregorian year is not. The Gregorian year is a deceptive counterfeit of the solar or tropical year.

New moons or months may start on any date of the year. Therefore, the Abib 1 dark new moon may occur before, on, or after the spring turn or equinox date. The Abib 1 dark New Moon or beginning of months is used to determine the appointed times of the LORD. The Abib 1 new moon must allow the annual feast Passover to start on the date of the vernal equinox or after the date of the vernal equinox because the LORD’S annual feasts are connected to the food harvest seasons that start after the spring turn or equinox date. This keeps the Lord’s annual feasts at their appointed times and also prevents two Passovers from occurring in one solar or tropical year.

UNIVERSAL TIME

Universal Time (UT) is sometimes referred to as “Greenwich Mean Time” (GMT). The two terms are often used loosely to refer to time kept on the Greenwich meridian. (Zero degree longitude position of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England). Times given in UT are almost always given in terms of a 24-hour clock. Thus, 12:13 (often written simply 1213) is 12:13 PM, local time. Other examples of UT: Midnight, the beginning of the day in UT, is 00:00; 01:05 is 1:05 AM local time; 12:00 is Noon local time; 18:00 is 6:00 PM local time and 23:59 is 11:59 PM local time. If you choose to convert the 24-hour clock time to local time Jerusalem, Israel, “Time Zone Conversion” charts will be helpful.

There are three things that cause confusion to some people as they begin to study feast calendars: (1) Universal Time (2) time zones, and (3) beginning the day at sunset instead of midnight.

The astronomical data from observatories, that is used to calculate a feast calendar, is usually given in Universal Time (UT) with the day starting at midnight in Greenwich, England on the dates of the civil Gregorian calendar.

The Lord starts the day at sunset in Jerusalem, Israel. The last part of 2 Chronicles 33, verse 4 states: “In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.” The holy, New Jerusalem is where God himself will dwell with HIS people. Read Deut.16: 6; Leviticus 23:32; Isaiah 2:2-3 and Rev. 21:2-3, 10-27.

Jerusalem, Israel is two time zones East of the zero meridian in Greenwich, England so Israel is two hours ahead of Greenwich Time Zone. When it is midnight in Greenwich, England it is already 2:00 AM local time in Jerusalem, Israel.

The Lord’s feast calendar has to be brought into rhythm with the man made Gregorian year that is used in the civil Gregorian calendar. Previously the instructions of how to compare and adjust to Jerusalem sunset time and Israel Time Zone was in the feast calendar information, but because of the latest changes (2006) to improve the web site at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a NASA facility, a decision was made to declare the Feast Calendar information the primary priority and continue to make it available to those that want it without the other information.

The instructions of where and how to obtain the necessary information to calculate a feast calendar from various observatories and other helpful information are available to those who have the time and desire to learn how to calculate a feast calendar. Access to a computer that will connect to the World Wide Web, with a printer that can also be used to make copies of forms are necessary tools needed to access and use the necessary information. The accuracy of the information to calculate a feast calendar will be to a very few minutes of the actual time the celestial events occurs, much more accurate that visual observations.

Detail instructions of the settings for the new “HORIZONS Web-Interface” and instructions of how to generate an ephemeris graph that is used to determine the beginning of the dark New Moon phase at the conjunction of the sun and moon, will also be made available, as time permits.

HOW TO DETERMINE THE LORD'S APPOINTED FEAST DATES

Before the Lord's appointed feast dates can be determined, the dark New Moon dates and times must be calculated and adjusted to Israel Standard Time with the day starting at sunset, Jerusalem time. The dates and times of the vernal equinox and must be adjusted to Israel Standard Time with the date starting at sunset, Jerusalem time. Also, the total number of dark New Moons in the solar or tropical year is helpful.

In the solar or tropical years that have 13 new moons, use the new moon date that is on or after tha spring turn or vernal equinox date. That new moon date is Abib 1, the beginning of months, and is used to determine the Lord's annual feast dates of Leviticus, chapter 23.