Holy Days and Calendar

Holy Days & Calendar

It is the view of many that Jesus returns on the Day of Trumpets, which has led to the belief that Satan fulfills azazel. It is reasoned that if the Day of Trumpets depicts Messiah's return and if Tabernacles depicts the Millennium, then there can only be one event in between that depicts the goat sent into the wilderness, the casting of Satan into the bottomless pit. This article looks at another possibility.

Three Times A Year Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Feast of Tabernacles

Anciently, it was crucial to attend these ‘feasts’ of God. Are they relevant today? Are these three ‘feasts’ also ‘pilgrimage feasts’? Ought they share a part in our worship to our God? Should we observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the same manner as we do the Feast of Tabernacles, from beginning to end? What about those select ‘Holy Days’ from Leviticus 23? Some of them fall on days within these three feasts of God. How do they impact a Christian’s observance today? What is the distinction between a ‘Holy Day’ and ‘Feast’ time? What is required to ‘keep’ a ‘feast’ of God?

The New Covenant Passover Sequel to When Did Ancient Israel Keep the Passover?

by Richard Fix, April 2002.

There has long been confusion over the night of Christ's bread, wine and foot washing ceremony. Was Christ keeping the ancient Israelite Passover a day early, the right day, or not at all? This treatise covers the subject, in exhaustive detail, resolving virtually every scriptural issue. The scriptures cannot be broken. Here is the missing harmony. With this explained, fascinating new implications have come into light - which could (hopefully) affect you the next time you take the symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

When Did Ancient Israel Keep the Passover?

by Richard Fix, written September 2001.

Does the "New Covenant Passover" ceremony, instituted by Christ on "the same night He was betrayed", coincide with when ancient Israel kept the "passover", before coming out of Egypt? Are they the same event, occupying the same time period, only with new symbols, or is there more to it? The two above booklets reveal some surprising insights into this subject, explaining Biblical information never uncovered or explained by the WCG and her daughters.

Holy Days and Equinoxes: Is There a Connection?

by Lon Martin & Richard Fix, 3/31/02.

The Jews have never relied on equinoxes as determining factors in determining their New Years/Holy Days, but the vast majority of pagan calendars are entirely based on them. So why do most of the “calendar groups” base their “calendars” on equinoxes? Did God express an “opinion”, in the scriptures, on how we should determine His Holy Days? This article explains the paradox.

New Moons, Are They Holy Time?

by Richard Fix, January 7, 2002. Updated March 17, 2002.

Have you ever wondered if, just maybe, the first day of the month is a “holy” day? If you no longer keep the Jewish Calendar and now use the new moon, then this article will give you scriptures and perspectives most have never considered.

Where is God's International Date Line?

by Richard Fix, written May 2000. Updated January 2002.

When does the Sabbath begin? On a round globe, every day must have a starting and an ending point. Did God wait for centuries, after explorers circumnavigated the earth, for the British to define when the day begins? Most so called Christian churches say "yes". Man begins the day in the dead of night and about as far away from Jerusalem as is possible! Shouldn't that raise a red flag? This article has real implications for Sabbath keepers over much of the earth!

The Year of the Flood

by Richard Fix, written December 2001.

Biblical prophecies indicate the arrival of 360 daylong years. A growing number of individuals believe the theory that 30-day months and 360-day years were the norm in early human history, based primarily on Noah’s flood. Yet the Genesis flood record accounts for 365 days. More revealing still, there are eight dated, flood related occurrences, all falling on the weekly Sabbath, but only on a 365-day model.

The Calendar of God

by Brian Convery, originally from the "Journal", 2001. Edited 7-13-02.

Here is an overview of the entire calendar situation facing the churches of God today. We have a variety of articles that deal with specific aspects of the calendar of God, but perhaps this or Herbert Armstrong’s 1940 Good News Letter About “The Calendar” would be the best articles to begin reading for the person who hasn’t studied the controversy. Does God care if you worship Him a day or so “off”? If punctuality is not important to God, then do Sunday worshipers “keep the commandments of God”?

Mr. Armstrong’s 1940 Good News Letter About “The Calendar”

by Frank W. Nelte, written January 2000.

Do you know what Herbert Armstrong believed about the calendar issue? Unless you have already read his letter, then you are in for some surprises. The only thing more surprising is the thorough analysis following his letter in this article. In some respects, he was more right than he was even aware of!

Dealing with the Calendar Question

by Frank W. Nelte, written January 1999.

Here is an overview of the present Jewish calendar. Following The Calendar of God article, this article could have been named “The Counterfeit Calendar of God” because it exposes all of the adulterations. Most of our brethren who have forsaken the Jewish calendar in favor of a Biblical calendar accept the equinox as a cofactor. Although this article was written from this perspective, we still value the excellent historical information presented in this article as well as much other factual information.

Scriptures That Have Been Used as a Basis for Accepting the Present Jewish Calendar

by Frank W. Nelte, written February 2000.

The title of this one pretty much says it all. In hindsight, it is a comedy of assumptions that led to the church of God’s acceptance of the Jewish calendar in the first place. The cardinal phrase “oracles of God”, that had been assumed to illustrate the secret “oral law” of the Jews, actually is a Greek reference to written scriptural texts! The Jews have no secrets concerning calendar understanding, nor do they claim any!

The New Testament Church and the Calendar

by Frank W. Nelte, written January, 1999.

Some church writers claim that both the Jews and the church were using “postponement rules” during the time of Christ. They would rather submit their own unsubstantiated versions of history in an attempt to gain credibility for maintaining their present course than to admit that the church had been in error! They reason that since they ‘must be right’, that history must have happened as they recount it. Still, Jewish historical accounts unanimously state that postponements were not adopted until centuries later. This article supplies actual calendar history.

The Myth of "The Oral Law"

by Frank W. Nelte.

In an effort to claim that the Hebrew calendar is "sacred" and "God given" and "inspired" a number of people invoke praise for the venerated "oral law" without even knowing what it is! What is this "oral law"? The answer is amazingly simple! The so called “oral law” is completely written out! The Talmud is "the oral law”! The expression "oral law" sounds much more esoteric and daunting than "the Talmud." But would anyone in the church of God today honestly claim that the Jews, at God's instruction, are preserving the Talmud, which is a Jewish commentary about the scriptures? Does anyone honestly believe that God gave the Talmud to the Jews? As strange as this seems, by default, that is the backbone of the argument for adopting the Jewish calendar!

Proof That the "Postponement Rules" of the Jewish Calendar Are Contrary to the Bible

by Frank W. Nelte, written February 2000.

There is clear Biblical evidence that the Jewish “postponement rules” go against God's instructions. The most obvious objection to the present Jewish calendar involves these "dehiyyot", as they are also known. Many Christian supporters of the Jewish calendar attribute antiquity to these rules that even the Jews do not. The Talmud reveals that postponements were introduced to prevent the Holy Days from falling on "inconvenient" days of the week. The Talmud also reveals that during the first century A.D., Atonement fell on Fridays and on Sundays - certain evidence that these "rules" originated at a late date. Why should Christian era Pharisaical rules demand that the Day of Trumpets, for instance, must never fall on a Sunday or a Wednesday or a Friday?