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True Equinox Not March 20!
Roman Equinox False!
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TRUE EQUINOX
The following Historical evidence conclusively shows the ancients, during the time of Daniel the Prophet, before the change of times and laws, understood spring begins February 19 at which time there is true equal day and night. They counted the morning twilight and the evening twilight in with the day, unlike March 20, which has both twilights on the night side, and is NOT an equal balancing of the day because twilight is still light!!!
Philo, a Levite, who lived during the time of our Savior, understood that the LAW teaches that the feasts were to be observed around the time of the TRADITINOL equinoxes which is March/April NOT April/May and September/October NOT October/November.
This means that you CANNOT begin the count from the new moon after the Traditional March 20 equinox or you will be to far beyond the equinox to be at it. Plus you will also be out of Egypt's month of or season of Abib/green ears, the time that the feast is to be commemorated! More on this later.
If you begin the count for the feast from the first New moon after the vernal equinox, on March 20, the feasts will always be a month later than when Philo and the people of his day, including our Savior, observed them. Remember Philo, was of the tribe of Levi and lived during the time of our Savior, and certainly knew when the first month of the year began. Philo was taught the same March 20 equinox that Cesar introduced about 20 years before he was born but kept the scriptural feast by the moon, as did the Priests in the Temple. In his writings he even describes a true equinox but thinks it to be March 20, which I will deal with later.
Also, How could they have eaten parched corn in the plains of Jericho around March 21, when the barley would be too hard to parch by then?????????
You possibly could eat parched corn further north, around March 21, but Joshua was not there, he was in Jericho!
Harvest ready around the first week of the solar month of March
Crossed Jordan on the 10th of the first lunar month
Jericho would have already harvested the barley and brought it inside the walls, but it was obviously not ready!
Conclusion is, the 16th of the lunar month fell around March 5 of the solar month, the time the sickle is first, or beginnest to be put to the corn.
They were commanded to reap the barley harvest when they come into the land, which they did, on the 16th of the lunar month.
The time to "begin" to first put the sickle to the corn (Deuteronomy 16:9) is when it is first ready to harvest, which is around the solar month of March 5, Deuteronomy 16:9.
The harvest was obviously not ready until the 16th of the lunar month, and Jericho would have reaped it and brought it inside the walls for the on coming siege!
This shows that the 16th of the lunar month was before the solar March 20 equinox. In other words, they kept the feast before the equinox, around the full moon of harvest time.
If the 16th of the lunar month fell at the solar March 20 equinox, when Joshua came into the land of Jericho, why come Jericho had not already reaped the barley and brought it inside the walls, being they were preparing for a siege???
And you do not begin to put the sickle to the corn on or after March 21. You begin to put the sickle to the corn when it is ready, around March 5.
In order for Joshua to keep a lunar full moon on or after the solar March 20 equinox, they would have crossed the Jorden around March 15 or 16, which would be the 10th of the lunar month, and the harvest would have set unharvested for about two weeks, and that's not the way farming works!
Joshua 5:10-11 - Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho.
11 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day.
Notice that they ate "Parched grain." Grain is parched when the field contains barley in the soft dough stage.
The time to keep the feast is at the full moon in March, the closest full moon to the vernal equinox.
The following evidence shows that the feasts are to be observed AT THE TRADIONOL EQUINOX "and not" OVER A MONTH AFTER IT and that is what you will have when counting from the first new moon after March 20 equinox. Here's the Historical record of how they done it during the days of our Savior. Here's what Philo writes,
PHILO, ON THE CREATION XXXIV (116) page 17 Yonge's translation
"And the sun, the ruler of the day, making two equinoxes every year, both in spring and autumn. The spring equinox in the constellation of Aries, and the autumnal one in Libra, gives the most evident demonstration possible of the divine dignity of the number seven. For each of the equinoxes takes place "in" the seventh month, at which time men are expressly commanded by law to celebrate the greatest and most popular and comprehensive festivals; since it is owing to both these seasons, that all the fruits of the earth are engendered and brought to perfection;"
Philo believed the law expressly teaches that the feast as are to be observed at the equinoxes because that is when the harvest is brought to perfection and he is referring to the traditional equinoxes.
The above shows the feasts are to be observed "AT" the traditional equinoxes, when the fruit is brought to perfection, NOT counted from it!
Philo was very specific and believed that both of the equinoxes took place in the seventh month.Both the Young's AND Colson's translation is in agreement that Philo teaches the month CAME BEFORE THE EQUINOX. Here are the direct quotes.
Young's translation says,"For each of the equinoxes takes place"in" the seventh month, at which time men are expressly commanded by law to celebrate the greatest and most popular and comprehensive festivals;" ON THE CREATION (116) page 17.
The Colson's translation says, "for each of the equinoxes occurs in a 7th month, and during them there is enjoined by law the keeping of the greatest national festivals," ON THE CREATION page 95.
Now if you count from the first Hebrew month/March, in which the equinox occurs, unto the seventh month/September, in which another equinox occurs, you will quickly see that the fall equinox takes place in a seventh month and if you count back from the month in which the fall equinox occurs/September, you will quickly see that the spring equinox occurs in a seventh month also, just like Philo specifically says, "both the equinoxes takes place in a seventh month".
He goes on to say, "at which time we are expressly commanded by law to celebrate the Festivals". He says this in both translations! And we know from Scripture that the festivals are celebrated according to the lunar month. Would you think that Philo was specific if he had said the month which occurs AFTER the equinox is first, instead of the month in which the equinox occurs???
I believe that would be very specific if he had said that. I would not dare say otherwise and if he had said that we would not be having discussions.
Again, to take a new moon after the equinox would not commemorate the season in which the Exodus occurred because, in Egypt, they were in the month of Abib around February 20, when the barley was in the ear/Abib and the month of Abib only last 30 days before going into another month with a different name. And the Almighty said "this month", referring to the new moon/month of Abib, the season they were delivered from Egypt's bondage!
Taking a new moon after the Vernal Equinox will be beyond Egypt's month or season of Abib/green ears, when the event is to be commemorated. That month will BE OVER, in Egypt, and you will no longer have young tender ears of grain in Egypt but instead you will have old hard ears of grain because the lunar month of green ears only last for 30 days and Egypt has green ears BEFORE Israel. You will not be commemorating the season at the proper time of green ears in the land of Egypt, at the time the exodus occurred or time appointed.
The flooding cycle of the Nile gives further proof of this."The flood cycle was so predictable that the Egyptians even based their ancient calendar on it. Akhet was the first season of the year, between the months of June and September. Peret or the Egyptian Autumn season marked the time when their crops grew in the fields and were harvested,[1] running from October to mid-February. Shemuwas the third and last seasonof the Egyptian year which ran from mid-February until the end of May; it essentially signalled the spring season of the Egyptian calendar." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flooding_of_the_Nile
The Egyptians had three seasons consisting of 4 solar months each. Notice the second season Peret or the Egyptian Autumn season, which says, "It marked the time when their crops grew in the fields and were harvested,[1] running from October to mid-February."
Notice the end of this second solar season is mid-February and the fields were harvested. Of course the feasts are reckoned by the moon.
The second season would end about the middle of the solar month of February when barley is Abib in Egypt.
Notice the third and last solar season ran from mid-February until the end of May; it essentially signalled the spring season.
Many scholars are in agreement that the hail plague was around the middle or end of February. We can conclude, from the above, the season of Abib IN EGYPT, when the barley is in the ear, is around the middle of February and it is the beginning of Egypt's springtime. Therefore a lunar new moon that occurs at this time would be the month/moon of Abib and the first month of the year but a lunar month will only last 30 days and then it will go into a new month of something else BESIDES ABIB. This is another reason why you cannot have a new moon after the March 20 equinox, you will be out of the season that you are to commemorate!
By taking a new moon on February 20 to March 20 will be the month in which the equinox occurs and Unleavened Bread will be observed somewhere from March 6 to April 4. This will commemorate the proper season the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt's bondage, i.e. the season of green years in Egypt. It will also be the month in which the equinox occurs according to Philo who was an eyewitness during the time!
Exodus 12:1-2 says, "YHWH spoke to Moses and Aaron IN THE LAND OF EGYPT, saying, this month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." Notice this specifically specifies the land of Egypt and it was the month of Egypt's green ears.
Philo says that Moses puts down the beginning of the vernal equinox as the first month of the year. Obviously this is referring to Exodus 12:2, where he changes from the fall equinox to the spring equinox. Here's the quote, my comments in red, He says, ON THE LIFE OF MOSES, II* (222)
"Moses puts down the beginning of the vernal equinox as the first month of the year, attributing the chief honour, not as some persons do to the periodical revolutions of the year in regard of time, (referring to the fall equinox in regards of time-- but rather to the graces and beauties of nature which it has caused to shine upon men; for it is through the bounty of nature that the seeds which are sown to produce the necessary food of mankind are brought to perfection. And the fruit of trees in their prime, …. (224) Accordingly, in this month, (the lunar month of Abib that they are in -- about the fourteenth day of the month, (lunar month, -- when the orb of the moon is usually about to become full, the public universal feast of the passover is celebrated, which in the Chaldaic language is called pascha;"
There is a place where he says the flood took place near the vernal equinox on the 27th day of the month Another place is THE DECALOGUE XXX. (160-161)
"And also the day on which is offered the sheaf of corn, as an offering of gratitude for the fertility and productiveness of the plain, as exhibited in the fulness of the ears of corn. (161) But to the seventh day of the week he has assigned the greatest festivals, those of the longest duration, at the periods of the equinox both vernal and autumnal in each year; appointing two festivals for these two epochs, the two great or long festivals is referring to Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles and the two epochs is referring to March 20 and September 22nd. "each lasting seven days; the one which takes place in the spring being for the perfection of what is being sown, and the one which falls in autumn being a feast of thanksgiving for the bringing home of all the fruits which the trees have produced. And seven days have very appropriately been appointed to the seventh month of each equinox, so that each month might receive an especial honour of one sacred day of festival, a weekly Sabbath for the purpose of refreshing and cheering the mind with its holiday."
Again, this shows that the feasts were originally observed at the equinoxes, not counted from them. The equinox is strictly a solar event. If you begin the count for Passover from the first new Moon after the March 20 equinox, you will not always have a Passover at the time of the traditional March 20 equinox as Philo describes above, your feast will often be April/May instead of March/April, which is not always at the equinox but will often times go beyond April 20 and even into May and never in March.
A feast beyond April 20 is in the SECOND MONTH will also cause you to keep Tabernacles in the EIGHT MONTH, which was frowned upon by the Almighty in the Jeroboam account in 1 Kings 12:32 - 33.
It is important to note that Philo lived to be about 70 years old and would have kept the feast between March 6 and April 6 his entire life while the Sun was in Aries. According to Ovid, Aries was from March 20 to April 20 but others say 8 days before that and even 10 days. Therefore they would never have kept the feast beyond April 7 because if they did they would not still be in Aries. The reason we know he always kept the feast in Aries between March 6 and April 6 is because we have historical evidence, from several sources, stating that the equinox was in the first degree of Aries at that time. Philo also says that the equinox is in Aries and goes on to say that the feast and harvest are also at the equinox, and he says it is according to the law and states that it is at that time when the fruit is brought to perfection. This means that, during his life time, the feast was always observed sometime between March 20 and April 20 depending on when the full moon occurred. If the sun and moon brought the harvest, and feasts, in Aries, and Aries ended on our Aprial 20, according to Ovid, why would it not still do the same today??? i.e. keep the feast somewhere between March 20 and April 20, depending on when the full moon occurs between March 20 and April 20. The time appointed/moad for the feast is the full moon of Abib or green ears, Exodus 23:15, not the new moon. The feast is to be observed on the first full moon after the traditional equinox!
The feast is actually observed in the first solar month of the year, on the 15th day of the lunar month. See Josephus Here are a few more quotes that prove the feasts are to be observed "at" the traditional equinoxes, NOT counted from them.
THE SPECIAL LAWS, II XXXIII. (204) THE TENTH FESTIVAL "The last of all the annual festivals is that which is called the feast of tabernacles, which is fixed for the season of the autumnal equinox."
We know the Scripture teaches that the feast is fixed for the seventh month and the equinox is in the seventh month and therefore the above is telling his readers that the feast of Tabernacles IS FIXED to be observed around the nominal equinox from around September 22 to October 22, when the fruit of the trees are brought to perfection, NOT October November, where no traditional equinox appears. At least this was what was in their mind and the is no discrepancy between the Jews feast and the Saviors feast. The feast would not go over 30 days past the equinox and still be considered at the equinox.
Here's another one that shows the feast of Tabernacles is at the September equinox. Yonge's translation of Philo page 735 chapter 14 verse 116 of FLACCUS states,
"This was the unexampled misfortune which befell Flaccus in the country of which he was governor, being taken prisoner like an enemy on account of the Jews, as it appears to me, whom he had determined to destroy utterly in his desire for glory. And a manifest proof of this is to be found in the time of his arrest, for it was the general festival of the Jews at the time of the autumnal equinox, during which it is the custom of the Jews to live in tents;" Notice he is saying that the law teaches them to live in tents or keep Tabernacles around September 22 equinox.
Ovid, who lived around this time, under the month April, writes, that the Sun leaves Aries on April 20. This means it interred Aries on March 20 and the harvest and the feast were between March 20 and April 20 and did not go past April 20. This is when the fruits or crops are first brought to perfection, according to Philo, who lived at that time and was an eyewitness.
There is no historical record where the feast went beyond April 20, as I know of. Remember, both Josephus and Philo observed the feast while the Sun was in Aries which corresponded to our March 20 to April 20 back then. The stars and constellation move and has changed but the feast and harvest remains between March 20 and April 20 because the Sun causes the seasons and is in charge of the crops. The equinox does not move from year to year and therefore the barley is still Abib in March/April, not April/May.
Ovid says in Book IV: under April 20
"The sun leaves the Ram, Aries, leader of the woolly flock," Even to this day, the first month of the Hebrew year corresponds to our March/April, which is called Nisan, at which time the barley is Abib and I believe the feast is on go if there is a full moon. The following websites also show that the first month of the Hebrew year is March/April and also the barley is ripe for harvest at that time. This is in harmony with Philo and Josephus and all the above information that teaches the feast was at the equinox, March/April. It reads, Aviv (Hebrew: אביב) hashim several related meanings in Hebrew:
· The basic meaning of the word aviv is the stage in the growth of grain when the seeds have reached full size and are filling with starch, but have not dried yet. During the plague of hail (Exodus 9:31), the barley was said to be aviv and the flax giv`ol.
· The month in the Hebrew calendar when the barley has reached or passed this stage (Exodus 13:4; 23:15) is called Aviv, or the "month of the aviv": the seventh of the Jewish civil year, and the first of the Biblical ecclesiastical year. It begins about the time of the Northern spring equinox (March 21). Since the Babylonian captivity, this month has mainly been called Nisan (Nehemiah 2:1, Esther 3:7). On the sixteenth day of the month, harvest was begun by gathering a sheaf of barley, which was offered as a sacrifice to YHWH (Lev 23:4-11), when the Temple in Jerusalem existed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviv
Notice it says the "month of the aviv" is the first month of the Biblical ecclesiastical year and It begins about the time of the Northern spring equinox (March 21). This is in harmony with what Philo said, also, "Nisan (or Nissan) is the first month of the ecclesiastical year and the seventh month (eighth, in leap year) of the civil year, on the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian; in the Torah it is called the month of the Aviv, referring to the month in which barley was ripe. It is a spring month of 30 days. Nisan usually falls in March–April on the Gregorian calendar. In the Book of Esther in the Tanakh it is referred to as Nisan." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisan
You see, even to this day, the first month of the Hebrew year is March/April NOT April/May, and the Scripture teaches to keep the feast IN THE FIRST month, which is March/April. All these evidences from Scripture, nature, and history show that the harvest and feast of Unleavened Bread is in the first Hebrew month of March/April, not April/May, and therefore it could not have been counted for from the new moon after the vernal equinox. This will always be the case unless the crops are manipulated to make them come in a little later, which they would not have done back then because their lives depended on it and they would not have taken the risk. They would have planted at the earliest possible time. We must remember it is the Sun that causes the equinox is and makes the seasons and brings the crops to perfection, and if it happened back then in March/April on our solar calendar, why would not the Sun produce the barley harvest and feast at the same time today, same as it still producers fruit on the trees in September/October???
Even though the stars and constellations slowly change position, the equinox and the barley harvest and the seasons in the year, which corresponds to our March/April, stay the same as it did back then. Again, the feasts are at the equinoxes, March/April for barley harvest and September/October the harvest of the trees!
Philo clearly teaches the equinox ripens the grain and fruits.THE SPECIAL LAWS, I* "(16)
"for they who see that the different seasons of the year owe their existence to the advances and retreats of the sun, in which periods also the generation of animals, and plants, and fruits, are perfected according to well-defined times," …… (186) "When the third season takes place in the seventh month at the autumnal equinox, (notice the seventh month is at the autumnal equinox and has to be referring to traditional equinox, September/October NOT October/November, BOTH months cannot be the seventh month. at the beginning of the month, the feast which begins the sacred month named "the feast of trumpets" and which was discussed earlier is celebrated. On the tenth day the fast takes place which they take seriously"
All of this evidence conclusively shows that the barley harvest and the feast were observed around our March/April, which is at the time of the traditional equinox, which was in the constellation Aries at that time. There is no intelligent way to deny these historical facts and it is not wise to reject this knowledge. I learned some of this information from a worthy opponent and dear friend. Here's some excerpts from what he wrote.
"The Roman poet Ovid, writing in the 1st century A.D. tracks for us what day the sign ofAries was over with on the Julian calendar. In his Book 4 under the heading April 20th hestates that the sun leaves the Ram Aries. So Aries lasted for 30 days and the sun left Ariesaccording to Ovid on April 20 this means that the sun entered Aries on March 22. Itappears from this that Ovid dated Aries to begin around March 22nd. This is not far away from when Columella dated Aries to begin on the Julian Calendar, March 17th. All of this information about the stars in relation to the Scriptural year leads us in the direction of recognizing the end of March to the end of April as the first moon of the year."
Notice his last statement, which I underlined, where he is acknowledging that all of this information about the stars in relation to the Scriptural year leads us in the direction of recognizing the end of March to the end of April as the first moon of the year! Is that not what I've been saying? The first month of the year is when we are to keep the feast and he just proved the point that it is March/April.
It is mathematically impossible for Philo and Josephus to have kept the feast at the March 20 equinox, counting to it from the first new moon after the March 20 equinox. Their first feast and FIRST MONTH will always be April/May, which is contrary to what he just proved the historical evidence teaches, and that is that the first month of the year is March/April and not April/May.
If, 2000 years ago, the Sun brought the crops to perfection BEFORE April 20, it will still do that today. And if the feasts were observed at that time, 2000 years ago, they should be observed at that time today. The historical evidence shows the feast was observed in the constellation of Aries, which would be equivalent to our March 20 to April 20. The equinox was in the first degree of Aries at that time which causes the sun to stay in Aries for 30 days. Continuing on, the opponent writes,
"The Judahite historian Josephus states in his Antiquities (1.3.9) that he believed one of the reasons the Almighty gave the pre-flood peoples a longer life was so that they could have enough time in their life to perfect astronomy, particularly the periods of the stars.Now, both Josephus and Philo mention the constellation named Aries, which is Latin for Ram, as being directly tied in with the celebration of Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread. Josephus states in his Antiquities 3.10.5 that the month Nisan (the Babylonian name for the month Abib) was the beginning of his people's new year. He then speaks of the 14th day of this lunar month and states that this is the time when the sun is in Aries.Notice that Josephus mentions the sun being in Aries at the time of the Passover.Philo may even be more plain when he states in his work On the Creation 39 (116) that the spring equinox is in the constellation of Aries and the autumnal one in the constellation of Libra (which is Latin for measuring scales). Philo also states in his workQA on Exodus (1.1) that scripture thinks it proper to reckon the cycle of months from the vernal equinox."
(I believe this is referred to the full moon after the vernal equinox.) He also mentions that the Ram (Aries) is the head of the zodiac and in it the sun appears to produce the vernal (spring) equinox. So, Josephus states that in his day the Passover was kept when the sun was in Aries, and Philo states that the spring equinox was in the constellation of Aries and in this sign the sun appears to produce the vernal equinox. The question we have to ask our self is, When did the sun enter the sign of Aries in the 1st century A.D.? Let me present to youwhat I have found in my research.
First off let me say that the zodiac is the division of the annual path in the sky near the path of the sun called the ecliptic, into 12 equal parts. Each of these parts is called a sign of the zodiac. For this purpose the "year" is the solar year, that is, the average time fromone vernal equinox to the next vernal equinox. Each sign has a name, which is also the name of a constellation of stars in the sky. The zodiac is divided up into 360 equal parts, each of which is called a degree. This shows that each degree is slightly longer than one day because there are about 365.2422 days per year. Each of the 12 signs is 30 degrees, so that each sign is almost 30.5 days.
Here are some ancient authors around the time period that both Josephus and Philo wrote. Some held to the view that the first of Aries and the day of the equinox were equivalent. Columella writes that he is not ignorant of Hipparchus's computation, which teaches that the solstices and the equinoxes do not happen in the 8th, but in the 1st parts of the signs.
So Columella is aware that Hipparchus (the B.C. astronomer that discovered what is known as the precession of the equinoxes) believed that the solstices and equinoxes happened in the 1st part of the zodiac signs rather than the 8th.On page 600 of a book titled, "A History of Ancient Mathematical Astronomy" Volume 2, author Otto Neugebauer explains that not only Hipparchus (140 B.C.) but also a follower of Hipparchus named Ptolemy (around 150 A.D.) dated the vernal equinox as the first degree of Aries.
Another work by a Greek astronomer named Geminos (who lived from 90 - 35 B.C.) wrote about this on page 114-117 of his work titled, "An Introduction to Phenomena." In this writing he stated that "the spring equinox happens in the 1st degree of Aries rather than the 8th degree." To me, this is saying that Aries began at the beginning of the March 20 equinox. Continuing on, "So Geminos agrees with Hipparchus and Ptolemy that the spring equinox is in the first degree of Aries, SOME BELIEVE THE 8th degree of Aries.
It appears from the writings of Philo that he believed the equinox happened in the first degree of Aries, there are about 30 days roughly assigned to each sign of the zodiac. In other words Aries lasts 30 days,"
The above words, from my opponent, prove my point. And that is the feast of unleavened bread was observed in the first Hebrew month and that is March/April on today's calendar.
Conclusion: the above information shows that Philo, who lived at the time of our Savior, and observe the same feast as our Savior, and states that the equinox is in Aries. Aries was from March 20 to April 20 according to Ovid and the harvest and feasts are observed at the equinoxes, according to Philo who also says that the law commands them to keep the feast at the equinox. This is when the harvest is ripe or brought to perfection.
He said the equinox was in Aries and we know that Aries was from March 20 to April 20 at that time and anything beyond April 20 was not in Aries. The evidence shows the barley harvest was Abib and ready for harvest BEFORE April 20 on our traditional solar calendar. This still holds true today according to nature and all the evidence I have seen. Again, about 2000 years ago the people were in or around the first degree of Aries, which lasted 30 days, from March 20 to April 20, according to Ovid and today's almanic.
The feast was observed at the equinox, at which time the crop was brought to perfection and the same holds true today. I leave you with this thought, they observed the feast at the equinox, which does not change from year to year, why not keep it at that time today? The equinox was in the first month then and corresponds with our March/April, why is it not the first month today?
Philo and the feast keepers that kept the feast with our Savior knew how and when to keep it. If they were here today, would they know when to keep it, even if they were not on the same latitude as Israel?
Would Philo still believe the equinox is the beginning of the first month of the year? Obviously he was referring to the solar months when he made that statement because the equinox is strictly a solar event. But when he says the equinox is in the first month, this month is lunar. There is no equinox in April/May.
Philo says that the equinox is in the first and seventh month! This would only make sense if he believed the first Hebrew month was from March 20 to April 20 because there is an equinox in March but there is no equinox in April 20 to May 20!
And besides that, they observed the feast IN THE FIRST MONTH when the Sun was in Aries, and back then, the Sun left Aries on April 20, according to the historical evidence in Ovid, who live near the time. This also shows the feast was observed between March 20 and April 20 on today's calendar.
Once you establish the first month, the seventh month comes seven months later and will be around September 22 to October 22 which still make sense because there is also an equinox here but not in October 22 to November 22. I don't see how anyone can intelligently argued against this historical information.
Philo says the feast are to be kept AT THE EQUINOX because that is when the grain and fruit of the trees are brought to perfection therefore March and September is the first and seventh month. If Philo believed the equinox was in the seventh month and that the feast is to be kept at the equinox, how would he interpret this Scripture in Leviticus 23:41 which says,
"And ye shall keep it a feast unto YHWH seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month."
To Philo the seventh month would be around the fall equinox from September 22 to October 22. I do not see anyway Philo could ever believe the seventh scriptural month is referring to our October/November because there is no equinox in either of those months and he believed the equinox is in the seventh month!
The same is true for the first month. If the equinox is in the first month, the first month has to be referring to our March/April because the equinox is around March 20. The first month cannot be our April/May, according to Philo, because there is no equinox in either of those months and he specifically says the equinox occurs in the first and seventh month and we know the equinox occurs in March and September! This alone disproves the theory to count from the first new moon after the vernal equinox, which will always make April/May your first month of the year and there is no equinox in either of them.
Remember, Philo observed the same feast as our Savior and therefore knew what he was talking about and how to count for the feasts, as did other feast keepers of that day and that's the way they would do it if they were here today. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON GENESIS, II (17) "…the season of the vernal equinox, when all earthly productions were full of their fruit; but the vernal equinox takes place in the seventh month, which is also called the first in other passages, with reference to a different idea." The Hebrew calendar has the following months:
Civil Equivalent
March-April
Iyar
April-May
Sivan
May-June
July-August
August-September
Tishri
September-October
Cheshvan
29 or 30 days
October-November
Kislev
November-December
Tevet
December-January
Shevat
January-February
Adar I (leap years only)
February-March
(called Adar Beit in leap years)
(13 in leap years)
The length of Cheshvan and Kislev are determined by complex calculations involving the time of day of the full moon http://www.jewfaq.org/calendar.htm
The Scripture clearly teaches to keep the first and seventh month of the year. All we have to do is find out what is the first and seventh month on the Hebrew solar lunar calendar!
The first month is March/April and the seventh month is September/October. It's that simple. Even the Zodiac Sign reveals when the first month of the year and what date it is corresponds to on our calendar -- March the zodiac months were keyed to our solar equinox calendar.
The stars and MATH conclusively prove the equinox at creation was in February NOT March.
We know there are 12 zodiac signs that the sun transits each year. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, each constellation moves forward approximately 30° or 30 days, in relation to the equinox, approximately every 2000 years, 2160 years to the more correct.
Whatever constellation the sun was in approximately 6000 years ago at creation, it has moved 3 months forward away from the spring equinox and is no longer in the spring season! It is very important to remember that the first equinox took place at creation when light and darkness was equally divided and therefore whatever zodiac sign began at creation there was equal light and darkness at that time also. 4000 years from creation the sun was at the beginning of the constellation Aries, at the time of Philo and Josephus. Therefore 2000 years before Philo and Josephus, the sun would have been at the beginning of Tarsus. And going 2000 more years back to the month creation took place, was the constellation Gemini. I believe Gemini depicts the creation story, but that's another story for another time.
From creation to now, Gemini has now moved or advanced 3 months ahead of the spring equinox, approximately 6000 years later. Gemini begins May 21 according to the almanac and if we walk that back to its original spot at creation, it shows that creation took place around February 21 instead of March 21!
Counting 2000 years backwards from May 21 to April 21 is the first 2000 years, and another 2000 years, back toward creation, brings you to March 21 and another 2000 years PUTS YOU AT CREATION around February 21, at which time there is equal light and darkness. In essence, the sun, moon, and stars/constellations, were all in the equinox at creation.
Counting forward 3 months from creation from Gemini, around February 21, brings you to May 21 and when you count it backwards from May 21 takes you back to February 21 again! There are approximately 2000 years from February 21 to March 21 and another 2000 years from March 21 to April 21 and another 2000 years from April 21 to May 21, a total of 6000 years. The math and zodiac signs shows the creation took place around February 21 equinox, instead of March 20 equinox, unless I am missing something.
When you try doing the same thing, using a March 20 equinox, it will not line up with the beginning of Gemini which begins May 21. It has advanced that far forward and when you walk it back 6000 years to creation, it goes back to February 21.
Let's say that Gemini was March 21 instead of February 21 and counting forward, from creation, from the beginning of March 21 to the beginning of April 21 is 2000 years and from the beginning of April 21 to the beginning of May 21 is another 2000 years, a total of only 4000 years. Another 2000 years carries you to the end of Gemini and the beginning of Cancer, a full month off.
Another reason that a March 20 Gemini will not work is because it will not lineup with Philo and Josephus's month of Aries.
Philo, Josephus, and others teach March 21 was around the beginning of the constellation Aries 4000 years "after" creation. If the beginning of Aries equates to March/April, then 2000 years earlier, the beginning of Taurus would equate with February/March. and the beginning of Gemini would equate with January/February. Unless I am missing something, I see no way to look at it and harmonize a March 20 equinox with the first month at creation.
Gemini creation Feb/Mar
Taurus Apr/May
Aries Mar/Apr
Pisces Feb/Mar
Gemini Mar/Apr
Gemini Apr/May
Gemini May/June
Notice: Gemini, due to precession, drops down into another solar month approximately every 2000 years. It goes from Feb 18 to May 21 in about 6000 years. This proves creation in Feb by counting backwards 6000 years from where Gemini appears on the solar calendar today. The Zodiac is keyed to the solar calendar and shows the dates corresponding to each of the zodiac signs. History shows it was also keyed to the solar calendar and the March 20 equinox during Philo's time.Also unlike the zodiac signs in astrology, which are all thirty degrees in length, the astronomical constellations vary widely in size. The boundaries of all the constellations in the sky were set by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1930. This was, in essence, a mapping exercise to make the work of astronomers more efficient, and the boundaries of the constellations are not therefore in any meaningful sense an 'equivalent' to the zodiac signs. Along with the twelve original constellations, the boundaries of a thirteenth constellation, Ophiuchus (the serpent bearer), were set by astronomers within the bounds of the zodiac." see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac
I like to believe most people, given the right information, will make the right choice/decision. The problem comes in with deception and that is why the Scripture speaks so much about it. We have to work at not being deceived, or take heed, as the Scripture warns. We must be very careful and prove all things, especially as to "when the day begins", because that will throw ever one of our appointments with the Heavenly Father off.
I believe it is the evening and morning twilights that divides the light from the darkness, and NOT THE HORIZON, Genesis 1: 4 – 5. Twice each year, in February and October, the twilights EQUALLY divide the light from the darkness, leaving the exact same amount of pure light and pure darkness. This belief is confirmed by Philo, who lived during the time of our Savior, which means they could not have believed a March 20 equinox. See Philo below.
The traditional equinox proponents believe it is the horizon that divides the light from the darkness because they believe the evening twilight is a part of or the beginning of darkness but if that were so, there is no true division of light and darkness because they still touch each other. In other words the twilight touches the pure light and therefore there is no division of light and darkness if twilight is considered to be part of the darkness. i.e. the light is NOT divided from the beginning of darkness, when using this line of thinking.
I believe the Scripture teaches that the twilight is a divider between light and darkness and not to be counted as either light or darkness, especially not to count "both" twilight with one or the other. The sunset at the horizon DOES NOT begin dark, because it is not dark and neither are all the stars out. The sunset at the horizon BEGINS TWILIGHT, NOT DARK, and the twilight in the evening leads to full darkness, same as the twilight in the morning leads to full light. The twilight in the morning, gently brings you out of darkness, into full light and the twilight in the evening gently brings you out of light into full darkness. Neither of the twilights are counted as either light or darkness, but are dividers between the two. This is the way Philo and the people during the time of our Savior understood it.
The bottom line is that it is THE TWILIGHTS that divides the light from the darkness, NOT THE HORIZON. The evening twilight divides the light from the darkness, it is not the darkness, but a divider between the two, and the morning twilight divides the darkness from the light, it is not the light but a divider between the two, and twice each year the twilights equally divided the light and darkness in February and October. I do not believe anyone on earth can read the following writings of Philo and honestly conclude that he does not believe that it is the "twilights" that divides light from darkness and day from night, and if this is so, it should end the debate because he kept the same feasts as the priests in the temple and our Savior.
THE SPECIAL LAWS, IV* Yonge's title, A Treatise on Circumcision.} XLII. (233) "Nature, therefore, has marked out those PERIODS IN EVERY YEAR, which are called the EQUINOXES, from the STATE OF THINGS WHICH EXIST AT THAT TIME with such DISTINCTNESS, that EVEN THE MOST ILLITERATE persons are aware of the EQUALITY which THEN EXISTS between the EXTENT of the DAYS and of the NIGHTS."
NOTICE there is absolutely no doubt how the Israelites understood what an equinox was. He says it is the EQUALITY or sameness which EXISTS at that time between the EXTENT or length of the days and of the nights, namely when the equinox occurs. It is evident that back then the equinox was UNDERSTOOD as the equal length of day and night not when the Sun crosses the equator at the traditional equinox when there is 12 hours from sunrise to sunset. Philo also writes.
WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS XXIX. (146-150) "These things being thus previously sketched out, see now how God, dividing things in the middle, has divided them into equal portions according to all the ideas of equality which occur in the creation of the universe…. So, in the same manner, he had divided light from darkness, and day from night,… (149) From the spring equinox to the summer solstice, day receives an addition to its length, and night, on the other hand, submits to a diminution; until the longest day and the shortest night are both completed. And then after the summer solstice the sun, turning back again the same road, neither more quickly nor more slowly than he advanced, but always preserving the same difference in the same manner, having a constantly equal arrangement, proceeds on till the autumnal equinox; and then, having made day and night both equal, begins to increase the length of the night, diminishing the day until the time of the winter solstice." (150) "And when it has made the night the longest night, and the day the shortest day, then returning back again and adopting the same distances as before, he again comes to the spring equinox.
Notice it is the LENGTH of the light and darkness that determines the equinox. Philo never mentions anything about the equator in every place describing the equinox. He did mention the equitor in one place when speaking of temperature and zones but not in connection with the equinox. Philo also reveals how they understood the light and darkness was divided in creation, he writes,
ON THE CREATION IX. (32 - 35) "Moses is right also when he says, that "darkness was over the face of the abyss." …. then its adversary darkness yielded, as God put a wall between them and separated them,….and did not only separate light and darkness, but did also place boundaries in the middle of the space between the two, by which he separated the extremities of each. For if they had approximated they must have produced confusion, preparing for the contest, for the supremacy, with great and unextinguishable rivalry, if boundaries established between them had not separated them and prevented them from clashing together, (34) and these boundaries are "evening" and "morning"; the one of which heralds in the good tidings that the "sun" is ABOUT TO RISE, gently dissipating the darkness: and "evening" comes on as the sun sets, receiving gently the collective approach of darkness. And these, I mean morning and evening, (35) But when light came, and darkness retreated and yielded to it, "and" boundaries were set in the space between the two, namely, evening and morning, then of necessity the measure of time was immediately perfected, which also the Creator called "day….."
Notice Philo believes that evening and morning is what divided the light and darkness. He did not recognize the evening/dusk and morning/dawn twilights as either light or darkness but a buffer between the two! He also understood morning to be BEFORE sunrise at the Horizon, at which time you have pure unshaded light. The Hebrew definition for "morning" is "dawn" and is a specific place in time other than sunrise which is also a specific place in time.
Do you see how Philo understood there were four parts of the day, namely evening, morning, light, and darkness with evening and morning dividing between the light and darkness? This happens twice each year on February 16 and October 26th when you allow one hour of twilight before sunrise and after sunset at the Horizon. This gives you 11 hours of pure light from sunrise to sunset at the horizon and 11 hours of pure darkness which is divided by two hours of twilight, one on each side.
The above indicates the boundaries were set in the space between the TWO, referring to light and darkness and the boundaries were evening and morning which is literally "dawn" and "dusk" according to the Hebrew definition of evening and morning which begins about 60 minutes or so before sunrise at the Horizon and continue 60 minutes after sunset at the horizon. This was Philo's understanding which is not contrary to Scripture or the Hebrew definition of "divided" in Genesis 1 which is made up of 2 Hebrew words which he understood to mean divided in the middle, showing the equality of the Almighty.
Again, it is the twilights that divides the light and darkness, NOT the horizon. If we were to somehow argue the twilights are not what divides the day and night, and should be counted, the following would apply. The question would be, should "both" the evening and morning twilights be placed in the same 12 hours period of the 24-hour day, as is the case with the traditional March 20 equinox, or should the morning twilight be reckoned with the 12 hour day and the evening twilight with the 12 hour night?
The Scripture would refer to day and night being equally divided into "two 12 hour divisions", when counting the twilights. These two 12 hour divisions would be evening and morning, consisting of 12 hours each!
There would be 12 hours in the evening half of the day and 12 hours in the morning half of the day! In other words there are 12 hours from the beginning of dusk/evening to the beginning of dawn/morning and 12 hours from the beginning of dawn/morning, back to the beginning of dusk/evening. The Hebrew definition for morning is "dawn" and one definition for evening is "dusk", and when the Scripture says the evening and the morning were the first day, it is referring to a 24-hour space of time that has been divided equally into evening and morning, with 12 hours in each half, if you allow evening as dusk and morning as dawn.
The traditional March 20 equinox has both the evening and morning twilights in the same 12 hour period, which leaves the other half of the day without an evening or morning! One half of the day should have a morning and the other half an evening. Someone would be just as justified and have just as much right to add both the twilights to the day as someone has to add them to the night, but the Scripture teaches "two" 12 hour divisions consisting of evening AND morning, when the twilight are counted.
The Scripture does not teach that BOTH the evening AND morning twilights belong on one side or the other. Let's look at it like this, let's say that in the beginning the Almighty created the heavens and a city and the city was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the city and the Mighty One of equality, equally divided between the light part of the city and the dark part of the city by placing a six-foot wide WALL BETWEEN, or DEAD IN THE MIDDLE of the city. Would the wall belong to the light side of the city or the dark side of the city, or would it be equally divided between the two???
According to Philo, the wall would not belong to either side, but would be a divider between the light side and dark side of the city. Neither side could claim the whole width of the wall as is the case with the traditional March 20 equinox, which puts the whole wall on the dark side of the city and therefore the wall cannot be IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY. At best, 3 foot of the wall should belong to one side and 3 foot to the other, making a equal division of the city. https://www.freeconferencecallhd.com/playback.html?n=7560613526-17-65-67-17-65-6737100-17-65-67-17-65-67-17-65-67-17-65-67-17-65-67-17-65-67100;0MjAxMjcxNzc=1
The following shows that originally March 1 was the first day of the year instead of March 20. "Early Roman Calendar: March 1st Rings in the New Year
The early Roman calendar designated March 1 as the New Year. The calendar had just ten months, beginning with March. That the New Year once began with the month of March is still reflected in some of the names of the months. September through December, our ninth through twelfth months, were originally positioned as the seventh through tenth months (septem is Latin for "seven," octo is "eight," novem is "nine," and decem is "ten.
"January Joins the CalendarThe first time the new year was celebrated on January 1st was in Rome in 153 B.C. (In fact, the month of January did not even exist until around 700 B.C., when the second king of Rome, Numa Pontilius, added the months of January and February.) The new year was moved from March to January because that was the beginning of the civil year, the month that the two newly elected Roman consuls—the highest officials in the Roman republic—began their one-year tenure. But this New Year date was not always strictly and widely observed, and the New Year was still sometimes celebrated on March 1.
Julian Calendar: January 1st Officially Instituted as the New YearIn 46 B.C. Julius Caesar introduced a new, solar-based calendar that was a vast improvement on the ancient Roman calendar, which was a lunar system that had become wildly inaccurate over the years. The Julian calendar decreed that the New Year would occur with January 1, and within the Roman world, January 1 became the consistently observed start of the new year.
Middle Ages: January 1st AbolishedIn medieval Europe, however, the celebrations accompanying the new year were considered pagan and unchristian like, and in 567 the Council of Tours abolished January 1 as the beginning of the year. At various times and in various places throughout medieval Christian Europe, the new year was celebrated on Dec. 25, the birth of Jesus; March 1; March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation; and Easter.
Gregorian Calendar: January 1st RestoredIn 1582, the Gregorian calendar reform restored January 1 as new year's day. Although most Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar almost immediately, it was only gradually adopted among Protestant countries. The British, for example, did not adopt the reformed calendar until 1752. Until then, the British Empire —and their American colonies— still celebrated the new year in March." http://www.infoplease.com/spot/newyearhistory.html
The following is conclusive scriptural proof that ALL three agricultural feasts each year are to be observed "within the year" every year which is impossible with the traditional equinox!
The sacred year begins in Abib each year but there is an agricultural year which begins and ends in the fall with seedtime.
This rules out the traditional equinox because Tabernacles will go into the next year resulting in only two feast IN THE YEAR and one feast outside the year and into the next year/revolution! See and study Exodus 23:10, 14, 16 and 17 carefully. Ex 13:10 Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance
Ex 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the "end" of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
Ex 23:17 "Three times in" the year all thy males shall appear before YHWH.
Notice THE THREE TIMES "IN" THE YEAR is referring to the NATURAL YEAR which "begins" and ENDS in the fall with "seedtime" and is NOT referring to the sacred year which begins in Abib, Exodus 12:2. The Almighty did not break his covenant with Noah when he said that "seedtime and harvest and winter and summer shall not cease as long as the Earth remaineth". The three times IN THE YEAR is referring to seedtime to seedtime.The natural year still begins in the fall and that is when the New Year seeds are sown and they are harvested in that "same year" BEFORE seedtime comes around again or else you go outside the year and into the next year with your feast of Tabernacles. The agricultural year is from seedtime to seedtime and that's what the above Scriptures are referring to and no harvest or feast that is sown in one year should go beyond the tequfah or "years end" or else it will be in another year. With the traditional equinox the third feast/Tabernacles goes past the tequfah/years end and into the next year of seedtime/sowing seed again and the command was to keep them IN THEIR SEASON and IN the year/Revolution.
Ge 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and "received" in the "same year" an hundredfold: and YHWH blessed him."
In a nutshell, the seeds should be sown and harvested in the "same year"! And of course the harvest-feasts will also be in that "same year" and so will the three times in the year all males are to appear before him, which is not the case with the traditional equinox.
In 2010 I erroneously observed Tabernacles at the end of October around the 22nd which is a month past the traditional equinox and was in violation of the above Scriptures which says, "THREE TIMES IN THE YEAR". If you do not believe the year still began and ended in the fall, even after Exodus 12:2 where he said "this will be the first month of the year for you", please read chapter 25 of Leviticus 1 through 12, which teaches that WHEN THEY COME INTO THE LAND every seventh year and all the years including the 50th year of Jubilee began and ended with seedtime in the fall.
Again, based on all these Scriptures, the feast were to be kept WITHIN THE YEAR, and the agricultural year was from seedtime to seedtime and no harvest "or feast" was to go into the next year but were to be kept in their seasons or within the year. Someone thinks to chance these times and seasons, as Daniel prophesied. Let's assume for a moment that February 20 was equinox or first day of the year in Egypt, when there is equal light and darkness, which was divided in the middle by evening and morning, as was the case on the first day of the year in creation according to Philo who lived during the time of our Savior. Although some places on earth who are on different latitude, such as Ohio, might be a little off equal light and darkness on February 20 because of the curvature of the earth, we can safely assume that the first month of the year would apply to everyone same as in Exodus 12:2 WOULD APPLY to everyone on earth even though they are on different latitude and their harvests will also be different. Or else would someone in Ohio would start their year different from the Israelites in Egypt?
I think most would agree that the first month of the year in Exodus 12:2 would have applied to everyone on earth no matter what latitude they are on and what stage their crops would be in, so why not use Egypt or Israel and everyplace on that latitude now as a starting point???
The sun will come back to that same place it was in Egypt year after year from then on and we can find the sun was not on mar 20 by the crops and the wheat seed that had not come up yet in Egypt, etc. Due to the curvature of the earth there will always be a slight difference in when the light of the sun reaches them. Alexander Egypt is in the northern part of Egypt and is on the same latitude with Israel. Alexander is a major metropolitan city in Egypt and there were thousands of Israelite Jews, including Philo, who would go up to Jerusalem for the feasts of the Almighty and would take the first fruits of their crops.
I am going to make a profound Statement: what we believe the Scripture teaches concerning time and appointments of the Almighty MUST harmonize or agree 100% with what Philo and the people, including the priests, who lived at the time of the Messiah, believed the Scripture teaches concerning time and appointments. i.e. we must believe what they believed unless they were rebuked for it or the Scripture spoke negative of it. In other words we must keep the same Sabbath that the people kept and the same appointments at the same time. The reason for this is because they observed the appointments the Messiah observed and if they were in error the Messiah was in error and I don't believe that he was.
Is there anyone who disagrees with this and why? If we know from the New Testament that our Saviour kept the same Sabbath and Feasts as the Jews of that day, all we have to do is find out from History what Sabbaths and Feasts they" kept and how they understood the seasons. What is it if I had phrased it like this, we must believe like our Savior believed concerning the appointed times. The Key is they believed like our Savior and if we believe like them then we automatically believe like our Savior. When we have documented Historical proof from people who lived at the time of our Savior as to how the feasts and Sabbaths were observed, we have the truth on the subject because our Savior observed the same Feasts and Sabbaths. EVERYONE KNOWS WHEN IT'S DARK AND LIGHT. NO ONE KNOWS IF ITS THE CENTER OF THE SUN that is ABOVE OR BELOW HORIZON. What did he used to divide the light from the darkness????
Did the first day in creation begin with about 60 minutes of twilight in the evening and then darkness??? And was there about 60 minutes of twilight before Day???
The beginning of morning twilight in the morning gradually brings you out of the mass of darkness until full light of the sun at the horizon. This would be easier on our eyes and the evening twilight does the opposite and gradually takes us out of the Bright light into the on coming mass of darkness again, giving our eyes a chance to adjust that we do not stumble, and the process begins anew with a new 24-hour day. If the first day in creation began in darkness, this would set a precedent for all the other days that follow and they also would begin in darkness and if Adam was created on the sixth day of the week at dark, or the beginning of the day, this would give his sensitive eyes time to adjust to his first sunrise at the horizon because of the morning twilight before the full light. Try to imagine what it would be like without the twilights gradually introducing light and darkness and the sun just popped on in full strength and again off without any warning. Even spiritually people are gradually drawn to the light of the word or it would be too much for them to bear. "In the time of the end, every divine institution is to be restored."
EQUINOX EGYPT Another clue in finding the scriptural first month of the year is also found in nature. The spring wheat, that had not come up in Exodus 9:32, takes 4 months to harvest according to nature, the agriculture Department and our Savior, John 4:35. This presents serious problems with the traditional equinox because the fields are under water in July 21 which is 4 months after March 21! The flooding of the Nile was so accurate that Egypt set their calendar by it, see websites below, and with the traditional equinox, the wheat would be underwater!
The reason the spring wheat would be underwater with the traditional equinox is because if the wheat was not up on March 21, it would not be ready for harvest until July 21 which is a month too late because of the flooding of the Nile River. Whatever the first month of the year in Egypt was, it was the month that the barley was ready to be harvested and the wheat had not come up. This had to correspond with our month February and had to have happened 4 months before the flooding of the Nile because it takes 4 months for spring wheat to be ready for harvest and it had to be harvested before the flood which came around the middle of June. This puts the barley ready for harvest around the middle of February or 1 March as many sources and scholar agree and nature itself teaches.
The bottom line is with the traditional equinox on March 21, the wheat that had not come up in Exodus 9:32 would not be ready for harvest until July 21 which is a month too late because of the flooding of the Nile River, making the traditional equinox impossible. I took the following from a website which states,
"The flooding cycle of the Nile"The flood cycle was so predictable that the Egyptians even based their ancient calendar on it. Akhet was the first season of the year, between the months of June and September. Peret or the Egyptian Autumn season marked the time when their crops grew in the fields and were harvested,[1] running from October to mid-February. Shemu was the third and last season of the Egyptian year which ran from mid-February until the end of May; it essentially signalled the spring season of the Egyptian calendar." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flooding_of_the_Nile Another reference says, Akhet - the inundation (June-September): The Flooding Season.
No farming was done at this time, as all the fields were flooded. http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/egypt/farming.htm
You might ask what does all this mean? In a nutshell it means the first month of the year is Abib and is comparable to our months February/March, "NOT" the traditional March/April. One might argue that that was the first month of the year in Egypt but what about Israel, how would they have ripe barley in this same month, when they came into the land? In the land of Jericho they could have planted their barley a month earlier than Egypt because of the flooding of the Nile River limited Egypt's plantain. Egypt had to wait until the water receded, but Jericho did not. At any rate the spring wheat had not come up which would have been in the middle of February and the barley was almost ready for harvest which is in the middle of February as Albert Barnes points out in his commentary on this verse and you can verify that this is still true today.
It is the length of the light from the sun that causes the barley to grow and ripen and this happens in February/March. Peoples crops further North of the equator will not mature at the same time but they can watch the great lights and determine their conjunction points of the length of light and darkness/equinox and solstices, this is what they were created for, i.e. days and years etc, Genesis 1:14. it is not the barley we are to watch for to determine years/tequfahs/revolutions/cycles/circuts.
Harvest: People's harvests who are on different latitudes will be different because of the distance from the equator and therefore it would be impossible to bring the first fruits of their harvest at the time Egypt or Israel brings there's. The only solution I see is the first month of the year in Egypt "applies to everyone", regardless of their latitude and harvests. Suppose you were in Ohio at the time the first month of the year was pinpointed in Egypt by the Almighty. Would you let that month and that year apply to you also, even though you're on a different latitude, or would you figure there is no way to work it out?
Think about this. If March 20 is approximately equal sunrise and sunset for ever one on Earth, then one day before March 20 is one day before March 20 for ever one on Earth also. 30 days before March 20 is 30 days before March 20 for everyone. In other words the time that it is equal light and darkness around February 20 in Israel is February 20 for everyone on the Earth even though they may be a day or two off on their latitude and harvest.
I believe the traditional equator and equinox is scientifically impossible or either the earth is not in the center because it will be equal light and darkness when the light of the sun shines in the center of the earth. And I see how Jerusalem and the regions round about is the center of the earth. The center of the earth was promise to the children of Israel for an inheritance according to the book of jubilees.
"And there came forth on the writing as Shem's lot the middle of the earth which he should take as an inheritance for himself and for his sons for the generations of eternity Jubilees 8:12.
An Egyptian pyramid is said to be in the center of the earth according to global positioning. Again, if we can find out which of the Roman months corresponded with the first month of the year/Abib, in Egypt and Israel, we will have the truth as to when the year begins. This can be done and I know how to do it.
Noah did not have the barley during the flood to determine the year and Noah could not have used a sundial to find the equinox on a moving ship either. He could have found the true equal light and darkness equinox without the barley or a sundial and so can someone who is in a valley and cannot see the horizon. At any rate a sundial would be useless on a ship. With the traditional equinox, you cannot believe the day begins and ends at dark same as the first day of the year in creation. You must give up that and other truth in order to accept the traditional equinox to work because they use 12 hours from sunrise to sunset at the horizon and this makes there day have 12 hours of pure light, and only 10 hours of pure darkness when you count the 60 minutes of twilight on each side of sunrise and sunset, in with the darkness come. Again I could be 100% wrong but as of now I cannot see why the traditional equinox is a better choice, even if they had a perfect track record on when the hours, days, months, years, and weeks begin and end which they do not.
Scientific EquinoxEQUINOX Scientific Evidence The following shows the traditional equinox ignores nature and does not line up with the natural movement of the Sun. Equal day and night occurs when the Sun is Center of the TRUE EQUATOR, not the traditional equator. The seasons are caused by the Sun's upward and downward motion across the equator from one hemisphere to the other, NOT with a mathematical count of how many sunrises and sunsets. With the traditional spring equinox there are 24 days from March 20 to the traditional fall equinox on September 23rd in which the Sun is hesitating in the northern hemisphere and the seasons is not changing while the Sun is hesitating BUT IS STILL COUNTED, by solar only Rome, as if it were still moving back toward the equator.
It would help if everyone would study the almanac and see how the sun is hesitating around the solstices. Remember the Sun crosses the equator, up into the northern hemisphere, in the spring until it reaches the summer solstice and then back down to the equator in the fall at which time you have equal light and darkness again. This process takes close to 8 months. The problem with the traditional equinox is that it ignores nature and what the Sun is actually doing because it counts the days in which the Sun is hovering and not moving down toward the equator AS IF IT WERE MOVING. This can be verified in any almanac by counting the days that the Sun is not moving. Remember it is the up and downward motion of the Sun across the equator that sets the seasons and when the Sun stays in the same spot the seasons stop changing. When the traditional equinox counts the 24 days that the Sun is not moving as if it were moving, it will change the time of the equinox from September 23 to around October 22nd at which time there is true equal light and darkness.
At any rate the traditional equinox ignores nature by ignoring what the Sun is actually doing. This will be explained along with how the traditional calendar is an arithmetical calendar in my next post if anyone cares to read it. The traditional calendar it is an arithmetical calendar and is not concerned with the feast days of the Almighty. From the equal light and darkness equinox around February 20 when the sun proceeds on up into the northern hemisphere and comes back down to where it started and again produces the equal light and darkness around October 22nd. This natural process takes a number of days longer than the traditional arithmetical calendar "because" they are simply evenly dividing the approximately 365¼ day year in half, regardless of what the Sun and nature is actually doing. All this is ruff estimation; I have not fine-tuned it yet. Remember the traditional calendar is based on arithmetic ignoring that the Sun actually stays in the northern hemisphere a number of days longer than September 20 equinox allows, which they call the nominal equinox. Nominal means "in name only". Instead of a carnal count of counting solar days, as is the cases with the traditional equinox and the traditional Sabbath, why not let nature make it's own equinox when it reaches equal light and darkness. The Sun then leaves the fall equal light and darkness which occurs around October 22 and then crosses into the southern hemisphere and returns to the same spot around February 20 and again produces equal light and darkness which happens around 30 days before the traditional nominal equinox.
The following is from an encyclopedia and also exposes the traditional equinox and calendar. "Arithmetic and astronomical calendars"An astronomical calendar is based on ongoing observation; examples are the religious Islamic calendar and the old religious Jewish calendar in the time of the Second Temple. Such a calendar is also referred to as an observation-based calendar. The advantage of such a calendar is that it is perfectly and perpetually accurate. The disadvantage is that working out when a particular date would occur is difficult. An arithmetic calendar is one that is based on a strict set of rules; an example is the current Jewish calendar. Such a calendar is also referred to as a rule-based calendar. The advantage of such a calendar is the ease of calculating when a particular date occurs. The disadvantage is imperfect accuracy. Furthermore, even if the calendar is very accurate, its accuracy diminishes slowly over time, owing to changes in Earth's rotation. This limits the lifetime of an accurate arithmetic calendar to a few thousand years. After then, the rules would need to be modified from observations made since the invention of the calendar. The Gregorian solar calendar is an arithmetical calendar. It counts days as the basic unit of time, grouping them into years of 365 or 366 days; and repeats completely every 146,097 days, which fill 400 years, and which also happens to be 20,871 seven-day weeks.[10] Of these 400 years, 303 (the "common years") have 365 days, and 97 (the leap years) have 366 days. This gives an average calendar-year length of exactly 365.2425 days, or 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 12 seconds.A Gregorian year is divided into twelve months of irregular length, with no regular relationship among their lengths:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar
THE KEY is we should be looking for a conjunction point of equal light and darkness, or equinox, to begin and end the year/revolution. The ancients did not make a misnomer when naming the solstices which means sun stand still or stop and when we look for the solstice we are looking for when the Sun stops and goes back the other way. Why should we think that they did not know what they were talking about when they named the equinox, which is referring to equal day and night?At the solstices the day and night are at their extremes from each other but at the equinoxes they come back equal to each other at conjunction and then start over again. These are the most obvious conjunction places to begin and end a year/revolution. Therefore when we are to look for the solstice we are to look for when the Sun stops which will be at the point the day and night are at their extremes IN LENGTH and when we look for the equinox we should look for when the day and night is equal to each other IN LENGTH, NOT where the 365 days of the year is arithmetical divided equal.
We are looking for equal light and darkness at the conjunction, NOT equal division. It is evident that equinoxes are not in the center of the solstices. It is also possible that the equator is not where they have it, but approximately 30 days off. Perhaps the map on the globe should be pulled down 30 days putting Ethiopia, which is the hottest place on Earth, where the traditionally equator is. When a light is shined in the middle of a glob or earth, you have equal light and darkness. As you move the light upward the light grows longer in the northern hemisphere until the summer solstice when the sun turns and heads back toward the equator and the light declines until the sun has returned to the equator or middle of the earth again. Due to the fact that it is not equal light and darkness at the traditional equinox lets us know the sun is not centered the earth's equator. This can be proven by taking a light and shining it on the center of a globe, or any spear, which will simulate the Sun shining on the Earth. The bottom line is they are on an arithmetical calendar and are counting several days into a season when the Sun, that causes the seasons, is not moving. This can be conclusively proven in any Almanac. Ethiopia is also one of the oldest sites of human existence known to scientists today, having yielded some of humanity's oldest traces.[7] It may be the region from which Homo sapiens first set out for the Middle East and points beyond. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia
EQUATOR The equator is an imaginary line between the North and South Pole that separates the Earth into the two hemispheres, southern and northern. The light makes manifest all things and the light of the sun reveals where this equator actually is. When the light shines in the "center" of the Earth, or a globe, it causes one half of the Earth or globe to be light and the other half dark which is known as equal light and darkness or equinox. This can only happen when the light is shined in the center of the Earth. Each degree the light of the sun rises above the equator into the northern hemisphere the length of the day grows longer and you have the opposite effect in the southern hemisphere where the length of the nights grow longer and the day shorter. At the time of the traditional equinox, the length of the light has passed the darkness and has grown to 12 hours of pure light at the horizon, leaving only 10 hours of pure darkness with 2hrs of evening and morning twilight. This is not equality and does not represent or mimic the very first day of the year in creation when he equally divided the light from the darkness.
The Hebrew word for divided in Genesis 1 is made up of two Hebrew words and one of them mean's "between", in other words he equally divided in the center and this is the way Philo understood it, to be equally divided in the middle. Quote:
WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS XXVIII. (141) "But since Moses not only uses the expression, "he divided," but says further, "he divided in the midst," it is necessary to say a few words on the subject of equal divisions; for that which is divided skilfully just in the middle makes two equal divisions….. (143) But it is established by the incorruptible word of truth that there is nothing equal in inequality. God alone therefore seems to be exactly just, and to be the only being able to divide in the middle bodies and things, in such a manner that none of the divisions shall be greater or less than the other by the smallest and most indivisible portion, and he alone is able to attain to sublime and perfect equality…."
According to the above, Philo believes the light in creation was equally divided from the darkness. Whether his belief is right or wrong does not matter. What matters is if he believes this, he could not possibly believe the traditional equinox because on March 20 there is 12 hours of light and 10 hours of darkness which is divided by two hours of twilight, one on each side of the day.
WHY ARE THE WRITING'S OF PHILO SO IMPORTANT?????
"In the quest for Historical evidence as it relates to the "true equinox" during the time of the Messiah, Philo is of the utmost importance because it reflects their understanding of things. The writings of Philo are very important for establishing all "ISREALITE PRACTICE" and belief both before and "during the Messiah's" time here on earth.
Philo lived from approximately 20 BCE until about 50 CE. Thus, his lifetime spanned not only the years prior to the Messiah's birth, but also the years following His resurrection (not to mention the years in between).
The evidence reveals that Philo's beliefs were representative of those of Judaism during that period of time. Philo, who was born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of more than 100,000 Jews/Israelites living in that city. When the prefect Flaccus initiated a massacre of the Jews in the year 39 CE, PHILO WAS SELECTED to head the Jewish delegation that went to Rome to plead their case before Gaius Caligula.
Please pause for a moment and reflect on the "SIGNIFICANCE" of Philo's having been chosen from among his peers for such a monumental task. "WOULD PHILO HAVE BEEN CHOSEN FOR SUCH A MISSION "IF" HIS PRACTICE AND BELIEFS "HAD NOT" SQUARED WITH THOSE OF NORMATIVE JUDAISM/Israel?" No, he would not have been chosen unless his views matched those of his peers. We know from Philo's writings that he "BELIEVED" "THE TRUE EQUINOX had to do with the equal division of light and darkness."
If normative Judaism had practiced keeping the feasts by "the traditional equinox" while Philo rebelliously observed the "nature made equal light and darkness equinox", would this detail have affected their decision to select him to lead a delegation to Rome??? ABSOLUTELY.
The timing of the feast observance is very important and one of the most DISTINGUISHING MARKS of Israel. For Philo to have "gone against the grain" of Israel with regard to Feast observance would have signaled a break with Israel. We can thus discern that if Philo observed and believed the nature made equinox which is equal light and darkness, so did the rest of his fellow Israelites, including our Savior and His Apostles because there were absolutely NO CONTROVERSY between our Savior and the Jews concerning the timing of the feasts found in Scripture, as a matter of fact I can conclusively prove from scripture that the Messiah kept the same feasts as did the Jews. Remember they were all gathered at Jerusalem, from every nation kindred and tongue, to keep Pentecost because when it had fully come in the book of acts, they were there.
At any rate, Philo's writings teach how things were understood and done by the priest in the Temple and the Israelites at the time of the Messiah. Our Savior said, "Are there not 12 hours in a day?" The question is does these 12 hours in a day include the "morning/dawn" before sunrise as the sun pushes up the dawn, or are they measured from sunrise to sunset excluding the dawn/morning that is pushed up by the sun? Remember the sun is following the dawn/morning, how can you not count it in with the day???
Why wait till the sun peeks at the horizon before counting the light that is pushed up, as light? It is like saying that that light is not light because the sun has not reached the horizon yet. The orb of the Sun is following the light. The Sun is a dispenser of the light on the Earth, why not count the light that it dispenses upon the Earth before the orb reaches the horizon??? The stars rule the night and the stars are gone from sight 30 minutes BEFORE the Sun reaches the horizon in the morning and there is absolutely no stars at all for some time when the Sun goes below the horizon in the evening and this is because the Sun is still ruling and it is not scripturally considered night until the light, that is called day, leaves and then the stars rule. When the Scripture says the stars rule the night, it is referring to all of the stars. I do not believe that 2 or 3 stars rule the night.
I live in a place where I cannot see the horizon but I am able to see when the light of the sun is gone and when all the stars have risen and I can no longer see the ribbon of blue in the tassels and all 3 of these witnesses happens at the same time because without light you cannot distinguish colors and none of the stars will be obscured by the light but will all be visible. EQUINOX POSSIBILITY There is another Scripture and historical possibility for the equinox.
The book of Genesis speaks of the light being divided from the darkness and immediately follows by saying, and there was evening and there was morning day one or the evening and the morning were the first day. Could it be possible that it was the evening and morning that was doing the dividing of the light from the darkness???
Philo thought this was the case because he taught that the evening and morning were buffers "between the light and darkness" so that they would not clash because of the two extremities. He writes,
WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS XXVIII. (141) "But since Moses not only uses the expression, "he divided," but says further, "he divided in the midst," it is necessary to say a few words on the subject of equal divisions; for that which is divided skilfully just in the middle makes two equal divisions….. "
Q. EQUINOX QUESTIONS Questions for the traditional equinox observers. A very important question for those who believe the day begins and ends when the traditional sunset when the sun is below the horizon, is this. Some people believe the sun should be at the center of the horizon, same as the sun is center the equator when determining the traditional equinox. Others believe it is when sun is BELOW the horizon at sunset, but with this belief the sun should be ABOVE the horizon at on the other side at sunrise in order to be consistent, if sunset is below the horizon on the other side. The majority believes that the Sun is just below the horizon on "both sides" at sunrise and sunset. My question is which one of the 3 methods is right and more importantly, WHY do you believe it? How can you prove which is the scriptural sunrise and sunset???
There is nothing in Scripture or history that supports the horizon theory. Also where in your area can you find a non-obstructed view of the horizon, in order to get a precise reading?
These problems go away with the nature made equinox. Another question is, if the light of the sun "stops ruling" the day when the Sun goes below the horizon, at which time there are no stars out, which one is ruling and is it day or night???
I believe the reason you cannot see the stars is because the Sun is still ruling and the light, that he called day, has not gone away yet or neither one is ruling during the twilight. The light will not go away until the scriptural sundown when it is dark, Genesis 15:17, and then all the stars will come out.
I believe the first day of the year should be a carbon copy where it mimics the very first day of the year in creation which happens at equinox/conjunction of equal light and darkness. I believe anything more or less is not true equinox and would not reflect or MIRROR the first day of the year in creation.
I have more information where Philo and also Babylon and other nations celebrated or connected the equinox to commemorate first day of creation when light and darkness was equal length. The sun returns to the same spot from which it started, after finishing it cycle of approximate 365 days, year after year after year and with the traditional equinox it goes a full month BEYOND the equal light and darkness and fulfills the prophecy of Daniel 7:25. There is equal light and darkness around October 26, 2011 and again around February 17th, 2011. The only scientifically way this can be is if the Sun goes 2 months into the southern hemisphere and then back up 2 months to the place where it started which is the center of the Earth which causes equal light and darkness again! This is an absolute that cannot be intelligently argued against, or the earth is not in the center. It then crosses the true equator into the northern hemisphere and goes up 4 months and back down 4 months to where it started and it will be equal light and darkness again when it reaches the center of the Earth again. The only thing I can see that causes the equal light and darkness is when the Sun shines in the center/equator of the Earth. The center of the Earth was given to his chosen people and it is the choice part of the Earth, not to hot or cold.
The thought occurred to me that if the Sun only goes 2 months in the southern hemisphere toward the South Pole, there should be a huge difference in temperature at the south pole. I Googled the South Pole and sure enough it is the coldest place on Earth and much colder than the North Pole. You can conduct an experiment with a flashlight and the globe. Philo teaches that it is the stars that fix the boundaries of night and day by their rising and setting.
CONCERNING NOAH'S WORK AS A PLANTER* {**Yonge's title, The Second Part of the Treatise about the Planting of Noah; On Husbandry (De Agricultura) to be closely tied to Concerning Noah's Work as a Planter (De Plantatione).} XXVIII. (117) (118) "for the light which is perceptible by the outward senses, and held in honour, being that which throws the most brilliant light both upon itself and upon other things, and upon its own parents the sun and the moon, and upon the most sacred company of the stars, which by their rising and setting fix the boundaries of night and day, and moreover, of months and years, and which have shown the nature of number,"
Notice it is the rising and setting of the stars that sets the boundaries of night and day. Not only that but the stars affect the boundaries of months and years because without their rising and setting you would not know when the first day of the month or year begins. Everyone wonders what part the stars play in the calendar and according to Philo they play a huge part in the beginning and ending of a day month and year by setting boundaries by their rising and settings.
According to the above, did Philo acknowledge these boundaries and begin and end the day when the stars were ruling or when the Sun was at the horizon???
My home is located in a small bowl like wooded valley area where it is impossible for me to see the horizon and I doubt anyone reading these forms has an unobstructed view of any horizon. Nevertheless I am able to watch the light of the sun go away in the West at which time all the stars began ruling because the light of the sun no longer shone on them and at the exact same time that the light of the Sun went away, I could no longer see the ribbon of blue in my tassels. These three witnesses happened at the same time.
All the stars are not out when the Sun goes below the horizon. You might see one peep out about 20 or so minutes later but it takes more than one or two stars to rule the night. This is something you can verify for yourself and then decide. Anyone who is too lazy or does not care enough to get up in the morning or watch at evening to check this out should not say anything one way of the other concerning this subject. I believe when the Scripture says "the stars to rule the night" it is speaking of all of them not just two or three or even half, but all of them. At any rate anyone who cannot see the horizon can still discern when a day begins and ends when using the stars and the light.
The only time I see an unobstructed horizon is when I go to the ocean or desert. When I was in Israel many years ago, I remember our Gide telling us that Israel was once a wilderness with many trees before they were cut down on account of wars etc. Can you imagine someone in a wooded area or wilderness trying to decide the exact moment the Sun touches the horizon? This problem goes away with the true equinox and the true boundary setters/stars.
The traditional equinox does not count the morning/dawn twilight in with the 12 hours of the day. If you think about it, the morning twilight is in "front" of the sun and is pushes up into the day, where it dissipates into the day, or is blended into the day, and is therefore a part of the day. If the morning twilight followed behind the Sun, you could count it in with the 12 hours of the night. The evening/dusk twilight follows or trails the Sun and leads to pure darkness but the morning/dawn twilight goes before the sun and leads to pure light and this is what makes up the 2 twelve hour halves of the day, spoken of in Genesis 1. i.e. evening and morning was the first day, evening and morning was the second day etc, in other words, the Scriptural evening and morning represents two halves of the 24-hour day, but the traditional evening and morning only represents one half of the 24 hour day because they are BOTH placed on one side of the day and if it were not for the tradition of men, no one would disagree with this.
People need to be honest with themselves, even if it means changing their theology. Unfortunately, some people are so addicted with their tradition, same as a drug addict is addicted with their drugs, it is hard for them to break loose.
The traditional 12 hour half of the day, from sunrise to sunset at the horizon, does not even have a evening or morning twilight and the other 12 hour half of the day has two or BOTH the twilights. This ought not be. The morning twilight is pushed up and should go with the day and the evening twilight with the night, in order to be an equal division.
DEFINITION OF SUNDOWN: I believe the Scriptural 24 hour day begins and ends at dark. First of all the original Scriptural definition of evening was the period of darkness that was called night and the definition of morning was the period of light that was called Day, no other division of time was mentioned at this time in Genesis 1, I don't see how this can be intelligently argued against.
As time went on and men began to multiply they developed terms of being more specific in communicating with each other, such as between the evenings, which can be before sunrise (Ex-!6) and between the evenings at the going down of the sun (Deut-16) etc. it appears that between the evenings can be anywhere between the darks and possibly why they use such phrases as, "between the evenings at the going down of the sun" which starts when the Sun reaches its apex and begins its descent after noon and continues to go down below the horizon until its light is gone and it becomes night/dark.
In today's fast pace we have minuets and seconds of time but in the beginning the two basic periods of a day was evening and morning or light and darkness, the evening/darkness/night lasted until dawn/light/morning/day, which in turn lasted until evening/dark and it began over again. At least that is how I see it as of now.
I believe they understood sundown as dark. See Genesis 15:17
"and it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark,"
Notice, when the sun is completely down it is dark.
Amos 8:9 says "I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:"
Notice: If the sun goes down at noon, it will be dark according to the Almighty's own words/definition.
Micah 3:6 "the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them."
Here again we see that when the sun goes down OVER them, the day is dark OVER them. It is NOT dark when the sun is just below the horizon because the sun is NOT down. Another verse says there shall be light at evening time, insinuating that is not the norm. These verses shows that true sundown is considered dark and these next verses shows that evening and sundown and dark are synonymous which will harmonize with Genesis 1: where it refers to evening as dark.
"Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath; The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water. And when the "sun is down", he shall be clean… [LEVITICUS 22:5-7]
Notice the Sun is not down until it is dark. Sundown, evening and dark are synonymous which harmonizes with the definition of evening, given in Genesis 1.
Again, the Scriptures teaches that true sundown is dark which is in harmony with the very first day in creation and the evening and morning days that followed. I do not know of any conclusive Scripture that refers to sundown any other way other than dark. I believe the ones I gave above are conclusive.
We know from Genesis 1 where He said, "the light He called day", i.e. day is the name for light, and if you still see light you are seeing that day but when it gets completely dark at sun down/conjunction, same as the conjunction of the moon when the last sliver goes away, the light is gone and the new day or month begins. It's much like opening and closing a door. When the day or a door opens the light begins to shine through and at the closing of the day or a door the light is shut off. As long as you see the light, the door is not shut. It's that simple.
I believe the Scriptures will interpret themselves as to what sundown and evening is. If the moon can complete its cycle without the aid of the horizon or the barley, why can't the Sun complete it's cycle or circuit/revolution without the aid of the horizon or barley??? Genesis 1:14 -16 teaches that He made the great lights for days and years and appointments without the help of barley or the horizon or anything else therefore they can complete their cycles independently of anything else. They even complete their cycles independently of each other although they are used in tandem with each other throughout the year.
In Genesis we read, "the light he called day and the darkness he called night and the evening (darkness) and the morning (light) were the first day (24hr period)."
I believe this is a Scripture definition of evening, and I believe the above concerning sundown being dark is a scriptural definition of sundown and therefore a new 24 hr period begins at dark/sundown. Try to picture the first day in creation when the light popped on, there would be one half of the Earth light and the other half dark, 50 50 equals 100.
People's understanding of words today is different than two thousand years ago I gave scripture where sundown is referring to dark but the traditional understanding of sundown is different.
Proverbs 7:9 in the twilight in the evening, in the black and dark night:"
Nature teaches that there are different degrees of twilight, which is the period of light just after the orb of the sun is below the Horizon before dark.
There is another space of twilight after the darkness is over before the orb of the sun is seen at the horizon. The morning twilight is called dawn. With the traditional equinox, BOTH these degrees of light are counted in with the night, which does NOT square with the equinox on the 1st day of the year in creation.
The traditional Roman calendar counts BOTH the two degrees of twilights in with the dark, which is only half of the 24-hour day. They say the equinox is when you have 12 hours from sunrise to sunset at the horizon. If you count 60 minutes of light on each side of sunrise and sunset, you have 12 hours of PURE light and only 10 hours of PURE darkness which is not equal light and darkness as was the first day in creation.
Nehemiah-13:19 "When the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark "before" the Sabbath"
Notice it does not say anything about the barley or the orb of the sun touching the horizon etc. it says, "when it "began" to "be" dark "before" the Sabbath. i.e. the Sabbath had not begun yet and would not begin "until dark", even though the Sun would have been below the horizon the Sabbath WOULD "begin at dark", same as the first Sabbath in creation.
If the very first day in creation began and ended at dark, every day since then should mimic it and if the first day of the year in creation was of equally divided light and darkness, the beginning of every year since then should mimic it because the sun comes back to the exact same spot year after year and it's ordinance will not change or Israel will ceased to be a nation.
Evening is defined as follows, by Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, and Brown, Drivers, Briggs Hebrew Lexicon: H6153 / SEC Definition / 'ereb / eh'-reb / From H6150; dusk:— + day, even (-ing, tide), night.H6153 / 'ereb / BDB Definition: / 1) evening, night, sunset / 1a) evening, sunset / 1b) night"
To conclusively prove that evening ends a day I offer the following Historical evidence from a time period when the Temple was still standing, which teachers that the Sabbath had not yet begun after the sun was below the Horizon even in the evening twilight.
WARS OF THE JEWS book 4 CHAPTER 9 (582) "and the last was erected above the top of the Pastophoria, where one of the priests stood of course, and gave a signal beforehand, with a trumpet, at the "beginning" of every seventh day, in the "evening twilight," as also at the "evening" when the "day was finished," as giving notice to the people when they were to "leave off work," and when they were to go to "work again" In the above Josephus is saying that the trumpet was blown BEFOREHAND at evening twilight which is before the beginning of every seventh day and at the evening at the end of every seventh day for the people to go back to work again."
Notice: the sun was below the horizon at twilight and the Sabbath had not began yet because it says the trumpet was blown BEFOREHAND or BEFORE the Sabbath. The trumpet was blown the second time in the "evening" instead of EVENING TWILIGHT. This shows they understood evening to be dark and the Sabbath would be over at dark and begin at dark. Remember Josephus is writing this during the time of the destruction of the Temple when the priesthood was still active which conclusively proves the Jews at this time understood the day ends at evening/dark and the day consisted of 24 hours. I don't believe he would've blown the trumpets after the Sabbath began but in the evening twilight before dark and again at evening which is dark and the Sabbath would be over.
I have much more on this subject but this should be enough to get us started thinking and if I am wrong I want to get off of it. I believe the multitude of cancel is a built-in safety net for his people.The night DOES NOT END when the Sun is at the horizon, 60 minutes after Dawn.
Job 26:10 "He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end."
I believe the night ends at the morning/dawn twilight BEFORE the Sun is at the horizon. The night does not end 60 minutes after it is light enough to read the Torah and then ends the night. In other words you are not able to read the Torah all night long, without artificial light, and then the night leaves at dawn where you can now read the Scripture at least 30 minutes before the Sun is at the Horizon and then to say that the night did not end until the Sun reached the horizon does not make sense.
Isa 60:19 "The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy Elohim thy glory."
Isa 60:20 Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for YHWH shall be thine everlasting light,..".
There is still light when the sun is at the horizon because the sun is not down.
Ge 28:11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set;"
Ps 104:19 He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.
Ps 104:20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. Ps 136:8 The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Ps 136:9 The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever."
Equinox happens without the aid of barley or man.
THE HEBREW WORD FOR NOON- The first thing to point out is that the biblical day begins at evening (GENESIS 1:5; LEVITICUS 23:32). While there are some who opt for a day beginning at daylight or morning, it is not the intent of this article to examine that belief. Knowing that the day begins at evening should cause us to immediately recognize that the day does not begin at noon. This is primarily because there are two completely different words for evening and noon in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Evening is defined as follows, by Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, and Brown, Drivers, Briggs Hebrew Lexicon:H6153 / SEC Definition / 'ereb / eh'-reb / From H6150; dusk:— + day, even (-ing, tide), night.H6153 / 'ereb / BDB Definition: / 1) evening, night, sunset / 1a) evening, sunset / 1b) night
While paying careful attention to the definition for the Hebrew word for evening, take note of the entirely different Hebrew word translated into English as "noon" in the King James Version of the Bible: H6672 / SEC Definition / tsohar / tso'-har / From H6671; a light (that is, window); dual double light, that is, noon:—midday, noon (-day, -tide), window.H6672 / tsohar / BDB Definition: / 1) noon, midday (noun masculine) / 1a) noon (as specific time of day) / 1b) noon (in simile as bright of happiness, blessing) / 2) roof (noun feminine) / 2a) meaning dubious
These two Hebrew words are never used synonymously in the entire Bible. As a matter of fact they are used in opposition to one another as different time frames of a 24 hour day in the following passage: Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. [PSALMS 55:17]
It is clear from this passage that the Psalmist speaks of three different specific time periods. Notice specifically that evening and noon are mentioned as separate time periods in the above passage, proving conclusively that noon (the apex of the sun) is not evening in any way. THE MEANING OF EVEN, EVENING, ETC.The easiest way to prove the meaning of the word evening is not necessarily by going to a Hebrew dictionary or lexicon, but by going to clear instances or uses of the Hebrew world ereb in the Old Testament in order to develop the proper meaning of the term according to the context. Here are such verses that do just that.
And (the) Almighty called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. [GENESIS 1:5]
Without me planting anything into your thoughts, read the above Scripture and ask yourself which terms are synonymous?
And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even. And whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. [LEVITICUS 11:24-25]
Compare the above verse with the following: Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath; The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water. And when the sun is down, he shall be clean… [LEVITICUS 22:5-7] Notice sundown and evening is synonymous and when we take into consideration the scriptural definition of sundown as being dark this confirms that evening is dark as was the case in creation!
We must undo what we were taught that is wrong. Out of ALL the scriptures so far, the ONLY evening is the one that ENDS the day, why is that????
The Leviticus 11 passage places the man clean at even, while the Leviticus 22 passage places the man clean when the sun is down; this shows that even is equivalent with when the sun is down. Here are more sundown Scriptures confirming true sundown is dark not just as it goes below the horizon.
Ge 28:11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
Jos 8:29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.
De 24:12 And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge:
De 24:13 In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy God.
De 24:14 Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates:
De 24:15 At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee.
De 23:11 But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again.
Le 22:6 The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.
Le 22:7 And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food.
Jg 14:17 And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
Jg 14:18 And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down,
2Sa 2:24 Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon…….
2Sa 2:29 And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim... 2Sa 3:35 And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down.
Ps 104:20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.
Ps 136:8 The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Ps 136:9 The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Jer 15:9 She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the YHWH.
Am 8:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
Mic 3:6 Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. In the morning thou shalt say, Would (the) Almighty it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would (the) Almighty it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. [DEUTERONOMY 28:67]
This verse places evening and morning as opposites, i.e. night verses day.And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. 13And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house. And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. [2 SAMUEL 11:12-14]
Here we have evening mentioned as the time Uriah went to lie down on his bed, and then we have the phrase, "…and it came to pass in the morning…" This is simple to understand.
Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity. Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel. And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight. And in the morning came the word of Yahweh unto me… [EZEKIEL 12:4-8] Here, even is mentioned as the equivalent of twilight and as the opposite of morning which came after evening.
And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid. And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me… [GENESIS 29:22-25] Notice that Jacob went in to Leah in the evening, the normal time a man would go into a woman. Then we have the morning being mentioned implying that they went into each other and then slept and then morning (daylight) came.
And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. [GENESIS 30:16] Here we see that Jacob came out from the field (most likely finishing work) at evening, and then lay with Leah that night; evening and night being the same thing.
But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again. [DEUTERONOMY 23:11] Here we see that as evening cometh on (draweth near) the person was to wash himself, then when the sun is down (evening no longer coming on but present) he is clean to enter the camp.
Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening. [PSALMS 104:23] Everyone knows that it is common for man to work in the daytime and come home or enter home at night.
Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening , in the black and dark night: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtle of heart. [PROVERBS 7:8-10] We see here the three emboldened terms above used synonymously.
Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves… [HABBAKUK 1:8] Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. [ZEPHANIAH 3:3]
Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. [GENESIS 49:27] Everyone associates wolves with darkness, not with noonday. Also note that the word "night" in the Genesis passage is the Hebrew word ereb. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: But it shall be one day which shall be known to Yahweh, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. [ZECHARIAH 14:6-7] For evening time to be light is an exceptional thing of abnormality; normally evening time is dark.
So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me. When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day. [JOB 7:3-4] The second night here is translated from the Hebrew word ereb. Could it be any more clearer that ereb here refers to the night time?
And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day. [JOSHUA 8:29] Notice carefully that the king hung on the tree until eventide. This is equivalent with the statement that Joshua commanded him to be brought down as soon as the sun was down. In noticing that evening and the time of sun down being synonymous, we should also take the following Scriptures into consideration for this study. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. [GENESIS 15:17] We clearly see here that when the sun went down, it was dark. This means the light of the day had vanished and it was then night. In opposition to this, notice this verse: And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Yahweh, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day… [AMOS 8:9] This passage is akin to Zechariah 14:6-7 in that it is a supernatural, extraordinary occurrence. While the sun begins its waning or going down at noon, it does not go down (get dark) at noon. Neither is clear day normally dark. In this passage sun down and darken are equals, and noon and clear day are equals. This once again, with no ambiguity, shows that noon and evening are not synonymous. What all of this shows is that evening and noon are not the same time periods. Noon is a time period during the daylight hours of the day, and evening is a time period of the beginning of the day - the sun down or dark portion of the day.
Aaron's rod that budded (Nu 17:2,3) was an almond rod. The common variety grows to the height of 25 feet and produces an abundant blossom which appears before the leaves; In Palestine this is fully out at the end of January or beginning of February; it is the harbinger of spring." http://net.bible.org/dictionary.php?word=almond
Notice it says February is the "harbinger" of spring and the word harbinger means to herald or the announcer or messenger of spring. The almond tree is a sign that spring is upon us.I have already posted other unbiased sources that support the flax in ancient Israel was harvested in February/March, such as the Reader's Digest book entitled Jesus and His Times, pages 100-101.
"The agricultural year in Israel begins in the autumn (after the harvest festival of Tabernacles) with ploughing and sowing. Harvests in Israel begin in spring in the month of "Adar (February/March)."http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/sbs777/saccal/calbook/part2-4.html
The above shows the spring rains comes in February and the almond trees are in full bloom in February and it is also the flax harvest. It is very important to know that the flax had not been harvested in Egypt when the hail came, Exodus 9:31 and this is a major key to finding what Roman month corresponds with this nature event which is called the month of Abib and it is the first month of the year!
If the flax was destroyed, obviously it had not yet been harvested, this means that this first month of the year was no later than our Roman month February or the flax would have already been harvested because the flax is harvested in our Roman month of February! Also the spring wheat was protected from the hail Exodus 9:32 because it had not come up yet which is planted in February. The bottom line is that in Egypt the flax had not yet been harvested, which is harvested in our Roman month February and we have barley that had not yet been harvested which is harvested in the middle of our Roman month February and we have spring wheat that had not yet come up which is sown in the middle of February. When we apply deductive reasoning to these agricultural facts we see that the hail was not later than February. It appears they would have been in the process of harvesting the flax when the hail came and the barley would have been harvested in February/March. The flax is harvested in January/February at the time the barley is Abib and the flax was still in the field during the hailstorm.
Challenge to Anyone. If the flax was in the field, still unharvested, at the time the "barley was in the ear/Abib", in Egypt when the hail came, and if the flax is harvested in January/February, and the barley in February/March, what month was the hail? And would not the Roman month of February/March be Abib, instead of March/April? If not, please explain why? Here is some information on the flax and when it is mature for harvest.
"Flax is harvested for fiber production after approximately 100 days, or a month after the plant flowers and "two weeks" after the seed capsules form. The base of the plant will begin to turn yellow. If the plant is still green the seed will not be useful, and the fiber will be underdeveloped. The fiber degrades once the plant is brown."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flax
The Septuagint says, "for the barley was advanced, and the flax was seeding" Exodus 9:31.Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament Exodus 9:31 and Exodus 9:32, "The flax and the barley were smitten, for the barley was ear, and the flax was גּבעל (blossom); i.e., they were neither of them quite ripe, but they were already in ear and blossom, …These accounts are in harmony with the natural history of Egypt. According to Pliny, the barley is reaped in the sixth month after the sowing-time, the wheat in the seventh. The barley is ripe about the end of February or beginning of March; the wheat, at the end of March or beginning of April. The flax is in flower at the end of January. …. Consequently the plague of hail occurred at the end of January, or at the latest in the first half of February;" The evidence shows that in Egypt the flax is harvested in January/February and barley in February/March and the flax had not been harvested when the hail destroyed it and the barley that was in the ear/Abib. The 1st month of the Hebrew year was named after the stage that the barley was in and it was in that stage/Abib "before" the flax harvest which had to be in January/February. At any rate the flax had not been harvested at the time the barley was Abib and this month was called the month of Abib which is the first month of the year which corresponds with the Roman month February/March. The barley was in the "ear" the Hebrew word for ear is Abib. The month of Abib gets its name from the stage of the barley in the springtime. The barley was at this stage in Egypt and it was BEFORE the flax harvest which takes place in February therefore the first Hebrew month is February.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible
1 Chronicles 12:32 Children of Issachar - According to the Targum they were all astronomers and astrologers: "and the sons of Issachar, who had understanding to know the times, and were skilled in fixing the beginnings of years, the commencement of months, and the intercalation of months and years; skillful in the changes of the moon, and in fixing the lunar solemnities to their proper times; skillful also in the doctrine of the solar periods; astrologers in signs and stars, that they might show Israel what to do; and their teachers were two hundred chiefs of the Sanhedrin: and all their brethren excelled in the words of the law, and were endued with wisdom, and were obedient to their command." - T. It appears that in their wisdom, experience, and skill, their brethren had the fullest confidence; and nothing was done but by their direction and advice."
Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible
1 Chronicles 12:32Ver. 32. Understanding of the times; either,1. Skill in the stars, and several seasons and changes of the air; which might be of good use in husbandry, to which this tribe was addicted Ge 49:14; De 33:18."
I think everyone agrees that year can be divided into 4 seasons, 3 months per season, but the question is does the first three month season began in February/March or March/April? It can be proven by Scripture, nature, and historical evidence that the spring season begins in February/March. King Solomon, Hesiod, Ovid, and others, had something very important in common and that is they all specifically teach that the winter season is over when the swallows appear and nature teaches the swallows appear in February, 60 days, not 90 days, after the winter solstice. It's that simple, the first three-month season begins in February not March. Here's the proof, from Scripture and history, winter ends when the swallows appear in February.
Song of Solomon 2:11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
Song 2:12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
Notice Solomon says that when winter is OVER, the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard "in our land", in other words, the beginning of SPRINGTIME in the land of Israel. This is talking about when the flowers first appear and the birds first begin to sing the spring songs. The above Scripture is referring to none other than February/March because "In our land" is referring to the land of Israel and it is in February that the flowers first appear on earth and the singing of birds begins. A poet named Hesiod, who lived at the time of Daniel the prophet, pinpoints this event as being 60 days after the winter solstice. He says it is the end of the year, equal day and night, and the beginning of spring, which is 60 dats after the winter solstice, which is Februaet 19th.
Hesiod Works and Days (ll. 564-570) "Avoid it; for this is the hardest month, wintry, hard for sheep and hard for men. In this season let your oxen have half their usual food, but let your man have more; for the helpful nights are long. Observe all this until the year is ended and you have nights and days of equal length, and Earth, the mother of all, bears again her various fruit. "When Zeus has finished sixty wintry days after the solstice, then the star Arcturus leaves the holy stream of Ocean and first rises brilliant at dusk. (25) February to March. ) After him the shrilly wailing daughter of Pandion, the swallow, appears to men when spring is just beginning. Before she comes, prune the vines, for it is best so." http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0132%3Acard%3D536
Notice he understood that you have days and nights of equal length 60 days after the winter solstice, not 90 days after. This is harmony with Philo, who teaches that the evening and morning twilights are not counted as either day or night but is a wall between the light and darkness or Day and night. See, Philo ON THE CREATION IX. (32 - 35) which reads,
"God put a wall between them and separated them,….and did not only separate light and darkness, but did also place boundaries in the middle of the space between the two, by which he separated the extremities of each….(34) and these boundaries are "evening" and "morning"; the one of which heralds in the good tidings that the "sun" is ABOUT TO RISE, gently dissipating the darkness: and "evening" comes on as the sun sets, receiving gently the collective approach of darkness. And these, I mean morning and evening,… (35) "But when light came, and darkness retreated and yielded to it, "and" boundaries were set in the space between the two, namely, evening and morning, then of necessity the measure of time was immediately perfected, which also the Creator called "day….."
the above happens 60 days after the winter solstice. See also,
WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS XXIX. (146-150) "see now how God, dividing things in the middle, has divided them into equal portions according to all the ideas of equality which occur in the creation of the universe…. So, in the same manner, he had divided light from darkness, and day from night,… (149) From the spring equinox to the summer solstice, day receives an addition to its length, and night, on the other hand, submits to a diminution; until the longest day and the shortest night are both completed. And then after the summer solstice the sun, turning back again the same road, neither more quickly nor more slowly than he advanced, but always preserving the same difference in the same manner, having a constantly equal arrangement, proceeds on till the autumnal equinox; and then, having made day and night both equal, begins to increase the length of the night, diminishing the day until the time of the winter solstice." (150) "And when it has made the night the longest night, and the day the shortest day, then returning back again and adopting the same distances as before, he again comes to the spring equinox." See also,
The above shows they did not count the twilights when counting the equal light and darkness/equinox. If you do count the twilights, you should count the morning/dawn twilight with the light part of the day and the evening/dusk twilight in with the night part of the 24-hour day, instead of putting both the twilights in with the dark, or even in with the light. If you do this equal division of the day it will still happen on February 20. I believe the most illiterate person today still understands there is equal division when the morning twilight belongs with the day and the evening twilight belongs with the night. It further shows that Philo's understanding, and the people of his day, was the same as the people during Daniel and Hesiod's day, around 600 BC, before the change took place. Remember, Hesiod lived at the time of Daniel, around 600 BC, who prophesied of a future change or alteration of the seasons, Daniel 7:25. The change had not taken place at this time and it is clear they understood there was equal day and night and that the year and winter ended 60 days after the winter solstice when the swallows first appear, not 90 days. There was also a man by the name of Ovid who actually lived during the time the change took place. He sings about how the ancient year was altered by Julius Caesar, from a February springtime, when the swallows appear, to January 1 when it is still winter. He writes,
"Am I wrong, or has the swallow come, herald of the Spring:"Does she not fear lest winter should turn back, return again? Ovid: Fasti Book II: February 24: The Regifugium (Notice Winter is gone and springtime has begun by February 24.) http://poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/OvidFastiBkTwo.htm#_Toc69367696
Notice Ovid sings that winter is over by February 24 because the swallow has come, herald, or the announcer, of the Spring. This is in harmony with both King Solomon and Hesiod. Now that we see that Ovid understood that winter is past by February 24 when the swallow has come, let's look what he sang under January 1 and we will see him telling Caesar that January 1 is still winter and the new year should begin when the swallows appear, when winter is over, i.e. springtime. He writes under January 1,
Book I: January 1: Kalends See how Janus appears first in my songTo announce a happy year for you, Germanicus. (Germanicus--Another name for Caesar...... 'Tell me why the new-year begins with cold, When it would be better started in the spring?Then all's in flower, then time renews its youth/equinox, And the new buds swell on the fertile vines: The trees are covered in newly formed leaves, And grass springs from the surface of the soil: Birds delight the warm air with their melodies, And the herds frisk and gambol in the fields. Then the sun's sweet, and brings the swallow, unseen, To build her clay nest under the highest roof beam. Then the land's cultivated, renewed by the plough. That time rightly should have been called New Year.'
Notice the time for the New Year should begin in the spring AFTER WINTER IS PAST, when the swallows are come, and we know from what he sung under February 24, the swallows had already come and winter was over before February 24. The conclusion is, the new year and the first month of the spring season begins in February, not March. Remember we're trying to find out how the ancients understood when the three months of the spring season began. Was it February, when the swallows appear and flowers first appear on earth, or was it a month later in March, a month after the fact? The swollows still apear in February.
The flooding cycle of the Nile
The three stages of the Egyptian flood cycle were Akhet, the time of the Nile flood, Peret, the sowing time, and Shemu, the time of harvest. Without this cycle people would die from starvation. The flood cycle was so predictable that the Egyptians even based their ancient calendar on it. Akhet was the first season of the year, between the months of June and September. Peret or the Egyptian Autumn season marked the time when their crops grew in the fields and were harvested,[1] running from October to mid-February. Shemu was the third and last season of the Egyptian year which ran from mid-February until the end of May; it essentially signalled the spring season of the Egyptian calendar." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flooding_of_the_Nile
Notice the above states that the middle of February single's Spring season. Moses lived in Egypt and it was in Egypt when the Almighty said this is the first month of the year for you/Springtime, Exodus 12:2.
Holman Bible Dictionary says: "RAIN Moisture from heaven providing nourishment for plant and animal life. Palestine was a land dependent upon the yearly rains to ensure an abundant harvest and an ample food supply for the coming year. Thus, the presence or absence of rain became a symbol of God's continued blessing or displeasure with the land and its inhabitants. Rain fell in two seasons: the early rains during October and November, and the later rains in February and March. Rarely did rain of any significance fall outside these two periods."
The later rain refers to the spring rain and begins February March, not March April. This also lets us know that the year begins with the FORMER RAIN, the later rain comes on later in the "SAME" year because there were two major rainy seasons each year. Here's the Strong's definition for "later rain" and "former rain", which further proves the later rain is in the springtime and there are scholarship that says this begins in February.
Strong's Hebrew Dictionary
4456. malqowsh
vwqlm malqowsh mal-koshe' from 3953; the spring rain (compare 3954); figuratively, eloquence:--latter rain.See Hebrew 3953
See Hebrew 3954 Strong's Hebrew Dictionary
4175. mowreh
hrwm mowreh mo-reh' from 3384; an archer; also teacher or teaching; also the early rain (see 3138):--(early) rain.See Hebrew 3384
See Hebrew 3138 Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible
Joel 2:23The former rain moderately - המורה לצדקה hammoreh litsedakah, "the former rain in righteousness," that is, in due time and in just proportion. This rain fell after autumn, the other in spring. See Ho 6:3.
I believe all five of our senses tell us when the seasons change. We can feel the temperature and see the lengthening of the light and darkness, we can see and hear the swallows/birds we can see, feel and smell the flowers, and we can see and taste the Barley. People's senses are not as keen as they used to be but we can still know when spring is in the air.
PS. Remember the light part of the year begins around February 20, when the light begins to exceed the darkness, and the light stays on until around October 26, after which the night exceed the light for four months. This is the dark and rainy season in Israel. This is the 4 month 8 month pattern that nature produces and can be easily seen in the daylight saving time change. It is set on this same 4--8 pattern each year, i.e. 4 months from November 6 to March 13 and then 8 months back to November 6. They have to do it this way because that is what the sun is actually doing. Of course if they rightly divided the evening and morning twilights you would back everything up one month to October and February instead of November and March.
The days are on the same 4 – 8 pattern. i.e. you have one third of the day/8 hours which consisted of night and rest and 16 hours of light and activity. They would love to divided it on a 6 – 6 pattern but the sun/light would expose them. Someone could ask themselves, if the equinox divides the year into two 6 month periods, why is the light longer than darkness for eight months each year? And then, why is it that the darkness is longer than the light for only four months each year?
This creates the 4 – 8 pattern found in nature. The nights are longer than the days for about four months each year and the days are longer than the nights for about eight months each year. When using the nature made equinox of equal light and darkness, around February 16, there are 125 days to the June 21 solstice and another 127 days to the nature made equinox on October 26 and then another 113 days back to February 16, a total of 365 days. When I say nature made equinox, I am referring to allowing the morning twilight to belong to the day and the evening twilight to belong to the night, which producers a true equal night and day, instead of putting BOTH the twilights in with the night, as is the case with the March 20 equinox. Philo speaks of a middle season between the two equinoxes. Notice above, using the nature made equinox on February 16, puts the June 21 solstice is in the middle of the two.
EQUINOX "conclusion" I believe it is the evening and morning twilights that divides the light from the darkness, and NOT THE HORIZON, Genesis 1: 4 – 5. Twice each year, in February and October, the twilights EQUALLY divide the light from the darkness, leaving the exact same amount of pure light and pure darkness on those days.
This belief is confirmed by Philo, who lived during the time of our Savior, which means they could not have believed a March 20 equinox. See Philo below. The traditional equinox proponents believe it is the horizon that divides the light from the darkness because they believe the evening twilight is a part of or the beginning of darkness but if that were so, there is no true division of light and darkness because they still touch each other. In other words the twilight touches the pure light and therefore there is no division of light and darkness if twilight is considered to be part of the darkness. i.e. the light is NOT divided from the beginning of darkness, when using this line of thinking.
I believe the Scripture teaches that the twilight is a divider between light and darkness and not to be counted as either light or darkness, especially not to count "both" twilight with one or the other. The sunset at the horizon DOES NOT begin dark, because it is not dark and neither are all the stars out. The sunset at the horizon BEGINS TWILIGHT, NOT DARK, and the twilight in the evening leads to full darkness, same as the twilight in the morning leads to full light.
The twilight in the morning, gently brings you out of darkness, into full light and the twilight in the evening gently brings you out of light into full darkness. Neither of the twilights are counted as either light or darkness, but are dividers between the two. This is the way Philo and the people during the time of our Savior understood it. The bottom line is that it is THE TWILIGHTS that divides the light from the darkness, NOT THE HORIZON. The evening twilight divides the light from the darkness, it is not the darkness, but a divider between the two, and the morning twilight divides the darkness from the light, it is not the light but a divider between the two, and twice each year the twilights equally divided the light and darkness in February and October.
I do not believe anyone on earth can read the following writings of Philo and honestly conclude that he does not believe that it is the "twilights" that divides light from darkness and day from night, and if this is so, it should end the debate because he kept the same feasts as the priests in the temple and our Savior. We read in,
THE SPECIAL LAWS, IV* Yonge's title, A Treatise on Circumcision.} XLII. (233)
"Nature, therefore, has marked out those PERIODS IN EVERY YEAR, which are called the EQUINOXES, from the STATE OF THINGS WHICH EXIST AT THAT TIME with such DISTINCTNESS, that EVEN THE MOST ILLITERATE persons are aware of the EQUALITY which THEN EXISTS between the EXTENT of the DAYS and of the NIGHTS."
NOTICE there is absolutely no doubt how the Israelites understood what an equinox was. He says it is the EQUALITY or sameness which EXISTS at that time between the EXTENT or length of the days and of the nights, namely when the equinox occurs. It is evident that back then the equinox was UNDERSTOOD as the equal length of day and night not when the Sun crosses the equator at the traditional equinox when there is 12 hours from sunrise to sunset.
Philo also writes. WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS XXIX. (146-150)
"These things being thus previously sketched out, see now how God, dividing things in the middle, has divided them into equal portions according to all the ideas of equality which occur in the creation of the universe…. So, in the same manner, he had divided light from darkness, and day from night,… (149) From the spring equinox to the summer solstice, day receives an addition to its length, and night, on the other hand, submits to a diminution; until the longest day and the shortest night are both completed. And then after the summer solstice the sun, turning back again the same road, neither more quickly nor more slowly than he advanced, but always preserving the same difference in the same manner, having a constantly equal arrangement, proceeds on till the autumnal equinox; and then, having made day and night both equal, begins to increase the length of the night, diminishing the day until the time of the winter solstice. (150) "And when it has made the night the longest night, and the day the shortest day, then returning back again and adopting the same distances as before, he again comes to the spring equinox. Notice it is the LENGTH of the light and darkness that determines the equinox. Philo never mentions anything about the equator in every place describing the equinox. He did mention the equator in one place when speaking of temperature and zones but not in connection with the equinox.
Philo also reveals how they understood the light and darkness was divided in creation, he writes, ON THE CREATION IX. (32 - 35) "Moses is right also when he says, that "darkness was over the face of the abyss." …. then its adversary darkness yielded, as God put a wall between them and separated them,….and did not only separate light and darkness, but did also place boundaries in the middle of the space between the two, by which he separated the extremities of each. For if they had approximated they must have produced confusion, preparing for the contest, for the supremacy, with great and unextinguishable rivalry, if boundaries established between them had not separated them and prevented them from clashing together, (34) and these boundaries are "evening" and "morning"; the one of which heralds in the good tidings that the "sun" is ABOUT TO RISE, gently dissipating the darkness: and "evening" comes on as the sun sets, receiving gently the collective approach of darkness. And these, I mean morning and evening, (35) But when light came, and darkness retreated and yielded to it, "and" boundaries were set in the space between the two, namely, evening and morning, then of necessity the measure of time was immediately perfected, which also the Creator called "day….."
Notice Philo believes that evening and morning is what divided the light and darkness. He did not recognize the evening/dusk and morning/dawn twilights as either light or darkness but a buffer between the two! He also understood morning to be BEFORE sunrise at the Horizon, at which time you have pure unshaded light. The Hebrew definition for "morning" is "dawn" and is a specific place in time other than sunrise which is also a specific place in time. Do you see how Philo understood there were four parts of the day, namely evening, morning, light, and darkness with evening and morning dividing between the light and darkness? This happens twice each year on February 19 and October 26th when you allow one hour of twilight before sunrise and after sunset at the Horizon. This gives you 11 hours of pure light from sunrise to sunset at the horizon and 11 hours of pure darkness which is divided by two hours of twilight, one on each side.
The Scripture would refer to day and night being equally divided into "two 12 hour divisions", when counting the twilights. These two 12 hour divisions would be evening and morning, consisting of 12 hours each! There would be 12 hours in the evening half of the day and 12 hours in the morning half of the day! In other words there are 12 hours from the beginning of dusk/evening to the beginning of dawn/morning and 12 hours from the beginning of dawn/morning, back to the beginning of dusk/evening.
The Hebrew definition for morning is "dawn" and one definition for evening is "dusk", and when the Scripture says the evening and the morning were the first day, it is referring to a 24-hour space of time that has been divided equally into evening and morning, with 12 hours in each half, if you allow evening as dusk and morning as dawn. The traditional March 20 equinox has both the evening and morning twilights in the same 12 hour period, which leaves the other half of the day without an evening or morning!
One half of the day should have a morning and the other half an evening. Someone would be just as justified and have just as much right to add both the twilights to the day as someone has to add them to the night, but the Scripture teaches "two" 12 hour divisions consisting of evening AND morning, when the twilight are counted. The Scripture does not teach that BOTH the evening AND morning twilights belong on one side or the other.
Let's look at it like this, let's say that in the beginning the Almighty created the heavens and a city and the city was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the city and the Mighty One of equality, equally divided between the light part of the city and the dark part of the city by placing a six-foot wide WALL BETWEEN, or DEAD IN THE MIDDLE of the city. Would the wall belong to the light side of the city or the dark side of the city, or would it be equally divided between the two???
According to Philo, the wall would not belong to either side, but would be a divider between the light side and dark side of the city. Neither side could claim the whole width of the wall as is the case with the traditional March 20 equinox, which puts the whole wall on the dark side of the city and therefore the wall cannot be IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY. At best, 3 foot of the wall should belong to one side and 3 foot to the other, making a equal division of the city.
It is self evident that at creation, it is impossible that the morning/dawn light was part of the darkness/night!
"For YHWH, commanded the light to shine out of darkness" (2 Corinthians 4:6 KJVS).
Ask yourself this question, at creation, did the light that shined out of darkness, which produced the first 12 hr day, begin with the dawn/light, at which time you can actually read your Bible, which you cannot do in darkness, or did it skip over the 30 minutes of morning/dawn light, and begin the 12 hr day at the horizon?
Ask yourself, at creation, why would we even think that we come out of darkness skipping over the 30 minutes of morning dawn light, when that is not the way it happens today?
Again, It is self evident that at creation, it is impossible that the morning/dawn light was part of the darkness/night!
No matter how small or dim the light is, it is still light, and not part of the darkness because the Scripture teaches that light and darkness will not mix.
The brightest part of the 12 hr day is at 12 noon, and the dimmest part of the same day is morning and evening, or dawn and dusk, and it is the same sun that produces all three stages of light in the same 12 hr day. We should not take the evening light of the day and carry it through 12 hrs of darkness to the next day, which is a total different sunrise from the one that produced the morning/dawn and 12 noon and evening dusk!