Re: Seventh Day of the week
von Ria Tameg » Sa 25. Mai 2024, 20:11
(Lyndsey Sanchez)
The Truth of Enoch and the Myth of a Solar-Only Calendar
There are some who claim that the Bible, the Book of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, and all the apocryphal scrolls discovered in Qumran, testify of a solar-only calendar. They claim the Masoretes added the scriptures about the moon’s role in determining the appointed times, that the Masoretic text has been corrupted by the scribes so much that it can’t be trusted. Many call this solar-only calendar the Enoch calendar. On the contrary, Enoch, himself, testifies of the moon’s role in the calendar year and months:
Thus I beheld their stations, as according to the fixed order of the months the sun rises and sets. At those times there is an excess of thirty days belonging to the sun in five years; all the days belonging to each year of the five years, when completed, amount to three hundred and sixty-four days; and to the sun and stars belong six days; six days in each of the five years; thus thirty days belong to them; So that the moon has thirty days less than the sun and stars. The moon brings on all the years exactly, that their stations may come neither too forwards nor too backwards a single day; but that the years may be changed with correct precision in three hundred and sixty-four days. In three years the days are one thousand and ninety-two; in five years they are one thousand eight hundred and twenty; and in eight years two thousand nine hundred and twelve days. To the moon alone belong in three years one thousand and sixty-two days; in five years it has fifty days less than the sun, for an addition being made to the one thousand and sixty-two days, in five years there are one thousand seven hundred and seventy days; and the days of the moon in eight years are two thousand eight hundred and thirty-two days. For its days in eight years are less than those of the sun by eighty days, which eighty days are its diminution in eight years. The year then becomes truly complete according to the station of the moons, and the station of the sun; which rise in the different gates; which rise and set in them for thirty days. Enoch 73:10-16
So every year there’s an additional 10 days that the sun has more than the moon, unless you anchor the moon to the sun and the stars, so that the moon brings in all the years (tequfah-return of the sun/year) exactly. We read that there’s 364 days in the solar year, and the lunar has 10 days less than the sun every year, which means there should be 354 days in a lunar year, when there’s 12 months. If you have 6 months of 30 days, and 6 months of 29 days, which is the case with the current lunar year we keep, then we have the right number of days in the lunar cycle for 12 months – 354. These verses appear to speak of adding an additional (13th) moon/month in the year, occasionally, to keep the year anchored with the sun and stars, which would keep the harvests and their appointed times in their right seasons. It seems to be saying that the solar year is 364 days, but that the lunar year will be less. Enoch, to me, since I started reading it for myself a few years ago, instead of listening to the man’s opinions (commentaries) about what it says, has always testified of the solar and lunar years being different lengths, but that when used together, they work perfectly. Just like we can’t have the Father without the Son, a solar calendar doesn’t work without the moon. According to verse 16 above, there is no such thing as a “complete” year without the moons within it, and the year does not begin at the exact time, without the moon, according to verse 13.
This agrees with Gen 1:14 which testifies that both the moon and sun are lights that are signs and are for appointed times, days, and years. There’s also Psalm 104:19 that testifies of this:
The moon is made for appointed times…
Everyone who rejects the moon in appointed times rejects the Word, as these scriptures about the moon are the Word. Because the Word IS Yahusha, Yahusha is the Word, if we reject these verses about the moon, we reject Yahusha. We can’t say we are believers in His Word or Yahusha if we don’t believe ALL of it. We can’t pick and choose. To reject the moon, is also to reject the chief cornerstone, Yahusha. Ever notice how that moon looks like a big stone in the sky? We are to build the calendar on it. Like Yahusha, the moon is like a chief cornerstone we are to build the calendar on. A rock is a strong foundation we can build on. To use the sun alone is only one witness, not 2 or 3, as required in Torah, to establish any matter, it’s shifting sands. The moon is His faithful witness in the sky. Psalm 89:37
As mentioned earlier, when questioned about why solar-only advocates choose to ignore Bible verses about the moon such as Psalm 104:19 and Psalm 89:37, many of them claim the Hebrew Bible can’t be trusted. I read the Greek versions and many other witnesses such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and Aramaic texts, and they also mention the moon’s role in the calendar. Others don’t want to cast doubt on the Torah, so they suggest that maybe there are other ways to interpret these verses about the moon and its faithful testimony on the calendar. Some have suggested the moon is just for the appointed times of the wild beasts. Some say the moon is only used as a sign of judgment and omens. I and many others cannot dismiss the moon’s phases as a coincidence, that it just so happens that there are 4 lunar weeks marked with a sign in the moon every 7th day Sabbath; the first quarter on the first Sabbath of the month, the full moon mid-month on the second Sabbath, a third quarter moon on the third Sabbath, and the last visible crescent at the beginning of or the dark moon at the end of the last Sabbath, and 1-2 dark moon days, which just so happened to coincide with the number of New Moon days. I cannot dismiss all that into a coincidence. No, the moon is a sign of the Sabbath.
I’m a HUGE fan of the Book of Jubilees. I’ve heard some people claim Jubilees rebukes those who use the moon in the calendar. Jubilees DOES NOT say people err when they use the moon. It’s saying they use the moon WRONG. Let’s look at the verse they are referring to:
For there will be those who will assuredly make observations of the moon -how (it) disturbs the seasons and comes in from year to year ten days too soon. Jubilees 6:36
It says there will be those who observe that the moon comes in from year to year ten days too soon. People err by throwing out the moon because of their observation that it does not have the same cycle the sun has. Jubilees 6:36 is in line with Enoch which says the lunar year is 10 days shorter than the solar year every year, so that in three years the sun has 30 more days than the moon. This is a stumbling block for those who reject the moon. People err because they reject the moon instead of asking YHUH for the wisdom to understand how the sun and moon work together as two witnesses who give the same testimony. The heavens, including the moon, declare the glory of YHUH, day by day they utter speech, night by night they display knowledge, and their rule/word/law goes out across the land. See Psalm 19. The moon does NOT give a false testimony about YHUH, His Torah, or His Sabbaths. It is a faithful witness. The moon is NOT sick.
What about those who claim using the moon in the calendar is Babylonian, or Pre-Islamic paganism? What about those who claim people who use the moon to tell what day it is are howling at the moon? Well, does that mean people who use the sun only to tell time are worshipping the sun? Does that mean people who use the sun only for their calendar must throw wild fertility parties on the solstices? While I would concur with them that worshipping ANY of the hosts of the heavens, or images of them, whether planets, the sun, the moon, or the stars, is false and idolatry, it would be a false accusation to accuse people who use the moon as a sign and for appointed times, days, and years, of worshipping the moon. Islam removed the sun from its role as an anchor in establishing the first month of the year, it also switched from the Creator’s dark moon to the first visible crescent to begin Muslim months. Egypt removed the moon from its calendar altogether. YHUH led us out of Egypt. We left a solar-only calendar when we left the Gregorian calendar. Let us not seek a leader amongst us in the wilderness to take us back to Egypt, to take us back into a solar-only man-made calendar. Let us come out of Babylon, the confusion and mixture of calendars that don’t take into account what all of the SCRIPTURAL and HEAVENLY witnesses have to say about YHUH’s calendar. The fact is, the Jewish rabbis have not, and Babylon has not used the sun and moon together for their calendars, for centuries they have not used the moon for the Sabbath. The Biblical luni-solar calendar is not Islamic, it’s not Jewish in origin either. The seven hills the immoral woman (Israel) sits (rests) on is the Roman Gregorian solar week. That’s the beast she rides. Islam rides it, too.
The Book of Jubilees says ALL the appointed times were forgotten, just like Lamentations 2 and Hosea 2:
And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: YHUH hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest. Lamentations 2:6
I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. Hosea 2:11
And all the children of Israel will forget and will not find the path of the years, and will forget the new moons, and seasons, and sabbaths and they will go wrong as to all the order of the years. Jubilees 6:34
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20:8
To say that the Jews and the Romans never forgot when the seventh day is, is to say that Hosea, Lamentations (Jeremiah), and Jubilees are false prophets. You can’t say that the Sabbaths were forgotten and then say the Sabbath has been Saturday since creation. Obviously, the fact that Israel had to be taught the Sabbaths in the wilderness with the manna after they left Egypt establishes that Israel has a history of forgetting the Sabbath. If Israel hasn’t ever forgotten the Sabbath, then why does YHUH command us to REMEMBER the Sabbath day in Exodus 12:8? Just as we forgot the Sabbaths, we forgot the New Moons also. The Hillel II calendar went with calculations only, the Karaite Jews went wrong by sighting the First Visible Crescent (FVC) and calling that the New Moon, like Islam. These are just 2 ways Israel went wrong with the moon. Some go wrong concerning the moon by throwing it out/casting it to the ground altogether, because the moon confuses them and they don’t know what to do with it. They try to set up a solar calendar that does not use the moon, such as the Gregorian calendar set up by the Pope. The moon is a stumbling stone to them that they trip over.
For there will be those who will assuredly make observations of the moon -how (it) disturbs the seasons and comes in from year to year ten days too soon. For this reason the years will come upon them when they will disturb (the order), and make an abominable (day) the day of testimony, and an unclean day a feast day, and they will confound all the days, the holy with the unclean, and the unclean day with the holy; for they will go wrong as to the months and sabbaths and feasts and jubilees. Jubilees 6:36-37
It’s not saying we are wrong to keep Sabbaths and feasts, so why would it be saying we are wrong to observe New Moons? To interpret it that way is to not be consistent in interpreting the entire verse and context. Consider the verses in the chapter that precede these, it says the error would be FORGETTING the New Moons and Sabbaths:
And all the children of Israel will forget and will not find the path of the years, and will forget the new moons, and seasons, and sabbaths and they will go wrong as to all the order of the years. For I know and from henceforth will I declare it unto thee, and it is not of my own devising; for the book (lies) written before me, and on the heavenly tablets the division of days is ordained, lest they forget the feasts of the covenant and walk according to the feasts of the Gentiles after their error and after their ignorance. Jubilees 6:34-35
It says Israel would FORGET the New Moons, and in other places in the chapter it says they would neglect ordinances. Ordinances of what? THE MOON! The end of the last verse said they would walk according to the feasts of the gentiles, after their error, and after their ignorance. What is their error? What is their ignorance? What type of calendar do they use? A solar-only calendar. They forget the moon, they forget the Sabbaths, this is all proof that Saturday cannot be the Sabbath, because Hosea 2 and Lamentations 2 and Jubilees all agree (that’s 3 WITNESSES!) that the Sabbath was forgotten!
For this reason I command and testify to thee that thou mayst testify to them; for after thy death thy children will disturb (them), so that they will not make the year three hundred and sixty-four days only, and for this reason they will go wrong as to the new moons and seasons and sabbaths and festivals, and they will eat all kinds of blood with all kinds of flesh. Jubilees 6:38
People also misunderstand the creation account in the Book of Jubilees in Chapter 2:8-11. They THINK it teaches that only the sun is a sign, and that only the sun is for days, years, and appointed times, etc…It states:
…And on the fourth day He created the sun and the moon and the stars, and set them in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon all the earth, and to rule over the day and the night, and divide the light from the darkness. And Aluhym appointed the sun to be a great sign on the earth for days and for sabbaths and for months and for feasts and for years and for sabbaths of years and for jubilees and for all seasons of the years. And it divideth the light from the darkness [and] for prosperity, that all things may prosper which shoot and grow on the earth. These three kinds He made on the fourth day.
Compare Jubilees 2:1-4 to Genesis 1:14-18:
And Aluhym said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And Aluhym made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And Aluhym set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and Aluhym saw that it was good.
Both Jubilees and Genesis mention that there were 3 lights (3 witnesses) appointed, often translated, made (the Hebrew word asah, which is not bara, as in create), on the fourth day, and both books say these three were set in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night, to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and night, to divide the light from the darkness. On these things Jubilees and Genesis completely agree on the role of the lights in the heavens.
By the way, if the lights being appointed/made/asah on the fourth day is proof that the moon cannot be used for the week, for the month, or the calendar, then the same verse is proof that the sun also cannot be used for the week, for the month, or the calendar. Some people may need to chew on that one for a while to wrap their minds around what I just stated. I assure you the lights in the heavens were not created, bara, on the fourth day of the week, they were asah (prepared/appointed for a work/purpose) on the fourth day of the week, just like the Hebrew text states. They were already created in the beginning, according to verse 1 of Genesis.
I’ve also heard people from the solar-only crowd claim that because the moon is not mentioned in Genesis 1 by name, that means the moon cannot be used in telling time. Do you see how silly the arguments against the moon’s use in the calendar are getting? They say that because the moon is only referred to as the lesser light, and not called the moon, and since the text does not come out and say that the sun AND the moon are for signs, appointed times, days, and years, then it must just mean the sun and the stars are for that purpose. I’d like to point out that the SUN is also NOT mentioned in Genesis 1 by name. It’s not called the sun, or shemesh, until Genesis 15. So not only are these arguments silly, they are downright hypocritical. In Genesis 1, the sun is only referred to as the greater light, and I also must point out that the text in Genesis 1 does not come right out and say that the sun and stars are the lights that are for signs, appointed times, days, and years. It simply says the lights in the heavens are for signs, appointed times, days, and years. Genesis 1 tells us there are two great lights YHUH asah that day, the sun, the greater light, and the moon, which is the lesser of the two, and the stars also. All 3 lights are the lights referred to that are for the calendar, according to Genesis 1 and Jubilees 2.
Here’s the part where people get confused. Jubilees goes on to mention that the sun is to be a GREAT sign (Genesis also calls the sun the GREATer light) for days, Sabbaths, years – all the appointed times. So, because it does not mention the moon here, they claim that means Jubilees is teaching that the moon is not a sign for days, Sabbaths, years, appointed times. I, personally, believe the moon was not mentioned here to be a stumbling block for those who choose to ignore verses like Gen 1:14, Psalm 104:19, etc, which specifically state that the moon does have this role.
By the way, speaking of Psalm 104:19, it only mentions the moon’s role in the appointed times. Does that mean we should conclude the Psalmist was teaching that the sun does not also have the role of being a sign for appointed times? Of course not! So, why would we conclude that because Jubilees 2 does not mention the moon’s role as a sign for appointed times, that this must mean Jubilees is not in agreement with the Bible here? We would never say that Psalm 104:19 is not in agreement with Gen 1:14 just because it doesn’t mention the sun in regards to appointed times! At least I would hope not!
Here’s another witness from the apocrypha, the Book of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus, a book once included in the 1611 KJV, later rejected by the Protestant Church:
Like a morning star in the midst of a cloud, like the full moon at the time of a feast. Sirach 50:6
I realize that no amount of scriptural witnesses that I could present here would ever convince someone who is determined to reject the moon for appointed times that they need to acknowledge the moon’s role in telling time. I’ve pointed out verses from Enoch that testify of the moon in months, in Jubilees, in Sirach, in the Bible, and either they give an excuse as such as I’ve mentioned in this article, or they don’t give an answer at all. This article is for those who believe the moon is for appointed times, or on the fence about it, and have been lied to, like I was, about what the apocryphal books have to say about the calendar.
Going back to Jubilees 2, verse 10 then goes on the say that it, the sun, divided the light from darkness. Ding, Ding! Take notice, Jubilees 2 also said in verse 8 that the moon and the stars also divide the light from the darkness. So does verse 10 here contradict verse 8? Does it contradict itself? Not if you read it in the light of the Bible, that the moon is also for appointed times. If you read Psalms 104:19 in the light of Gen 1:14, that both the sun and the moon have this role, why would you not also read Jubilees 2 in that same light, judging them with equal measures. Aren’t we called to judge with equal measures? We can’t give one witness the benefit of the doubt and not also give the other witness the benefit of the doubt before declaring it to be a false witness.
Jubilees 2:11 then wraps up the fourth day of creation week saying, “these THREE kinds He made on the fourth day.” That confirms the sun and moon should also be understood to be lights for appointed times, as Genesis 1:14 and Psalm 104:19 state, that all of these verses are inclusive, and not just limited to the sun. The sun is the greater of these three lights, that’s what this passage is saying, and Genesis 1 agrees with that, too.
So the solar year is 364 days, according to Enoch, and the luni-solar year is 354 days, 10 days less than the sun, or the solar year. It was even recently pointed out to me that a 13-month lunar year would have 52 weeks and 364 days, not counting New Moon days, just like Jubilees and Enoch mention, because there are 4 lunar weeks in a lunar month. Four times thirteen is 364. I find that very interesting.
The year is precisely three hundred and sixty-four days. 1 Enoch 71:42
And all the days of the commandment will be fifty two weeks of days, and (these will make) the entire year complete. Thus it is engraved and ordained on the heavenly tablets. And there is no neglecting (this commandment) for a single year or from year to year. And command you the children of Yisrael that they observe the years according to this reckoning- three hundred and sixty-four days, and (these) will constitute a complete year, and they will not disturb its time from its days and from its feasts; for everything will fall out in them according to their testimony, and they will not leave out any day nor disturb any feasts. But if they do neglect and do not observe them according to His commandment, then they will disturb all their seasons and the years will be dislodged from this (order), [and they will disturb the seasons and the years will be dislodged] and they will neglect their ordinances. And all the children of Yisrael will forget and will not find the path of the years, and will forget the new months, and seasons, and Shabbats and they will go wrong as to all the order of the years. Jubilees 16:30-34
Some say they do not see a 13th month in scripture. Many of these people take issue with using the moon for the Sabbath, or using the moon altogether for reckoning months and appointed times within the year. True, most years have 12 months, and in scripture, it’s very clear there were at least 12 months, as there are many references to the 12th month. Does that mean there are no years with 13 months, just because it’s not as obvious? No, while it is true that there are always 2-3 witnesses required to establish any matter, Torah also teaches us that there are hidden things within Torah that YHUH chooses to only reveal to those who seek. If people are not open to seeking out the possibility of a 13th lunar month, they won’t find it. If you seek, you SHALL find. I believe that the fact that Enoch points out that the solar year is longer than the lunar year, that the moon falls behind the sun every year by 10 days (according to the math in 1 Enoch 73:14-15), while still relating the moon’s lunations to the months and years, that this is pointing to intercalating a 13th month every few years to keep the moon and sun and year anchored with the seasons, harvests, and feasts. The sun-only calendar folks say they don’t see a 13th month in the scriptures, but those same people will often add days every year at the end of their 360 or 364 day year. They intercalate days or weeks outside of months in their year. Where does scripture say to do THAT? This is yet another one of their hypocritical arguments against using the moon for months and appointed times.
The Book of Jubilees states that Rebecca prophesied concerning the number of Jacob’s sons/children/descendants (12 sons + 1 daughter=13 children) arising according to the number of months in the year:
And may He make thy sons many during thy life, And may they arise according to the number of the months of the year. Jubilees 25:16
It was translated as sons in English, but in Hebrew, the word sons would be from the word ben, or yalad, which would be son, child, descendant, seed, youth, fruit of the womb, which would also include a daughter. It’s a word that is inclusive in referring to gender, like children referring to both boys and girls, or men, referring to humans, including both men and women.
Many of the same people that say they do not see 13 months in the scriptures also say they do not see a 29-day month in scripture – only 30 days. Again, if one doesn’t seek a possibility of 29-day month, they will not find it. If one seeks a way to explain certain scriptures away, they will find it. Enoch is often quoted to support a 30-day only month. However, this is a misunderstanding of Enoch, because the Book of Enoch mentions months with 29 days:
On stated months the moon has twenty-nine days. Enoch 79:10
Where light comes to the moon, there again it decreases, until all its light is extinguished, and the days of the moon pass away. Then its orb remains solitary without light. During three months it effects in thirty days each month its period; and during three more months it effects it in twenty-nine days each. These are the times in which it effects its decrease in its first period, and in the first gate, namely, in one hundred and seventy-seven days. And at the time of its going forth during three months it appears thirty days each, and during three more months it appears twenty-nine days each. Enoch 79:17-20
While I can see how some people struggle with a 13th month, it’s very clear to me that Enoch is telling us that a calendar exists that uses the moon and has 29 days in some months. I don’t know how people can deny these statements in Enoch or deny that the moon currently has a lunation that is on average shorter than 30 days every month, giving us months with 29 days. The lights in the heavens are confirming what we read in the scriptures. The heavens declare the glory of Aluhym. It is clear to me that a 13th month is one of those glories of Aluhym that He chooses to conceal, and the honor of kings to search out. It’s obvious to some and hidden from others. It’s kind of like the New Moon. Some who do acknowledge the moon for months claim the correct phase of the New Moon can’t be found in the Bible. Many others, like me, see it clearly, that in the beginning, the first day of the month, BEFORE the first day of creation week, in the first year of creation, there was darkness, according to Genesis 1:1-2. That would not describe a full moon or an FVC, but a conjunction moon, a dark moon. The first day of creation week, day 2 of the 1st month, there was light. That would be the FVC, the sign of the first day of work, the first day of the week.
Most people who keep a luni-solar calendar for months and years have read or heard, maybe even repeated, the following claim:
“In the beginning, there were 30-day months only, and the year was a perfect 360-day year. Something changed in the heavens since then, and now we have months that alternate with 29 and 30 days.”
Some of us have come to believe that YHUH has altered the months and years. I cannot explain why I have not been able to completely accept an ancient 360-day year with 30 day months only. Maybe it’s because scripture says YHUH and His Word do not change, they’re eternal. I understood how and why we came up with this 360-day year with only 30 day months in the time of Noah, but I just could not lay down the possibility that maybe a 29-day month existed in the beginning. Maybe it’s because an “average” just doesn’t cut it for me. Maybe it’s because I had not tested the claim myself, so therefore, in my mind, the possibility remained. I recently decided it was time to test this claim.
So where does this idea come from? What scriptural support are we given for such a claim? It comes from Genesis 7:11-8:4. Let’s look at the key passages used to establish this as “fact”:
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. Genesis 7:11
And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. Genesis 7:24
And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. Genesis 8:3
And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. Genesis 8:4
Anyone with the ability to do elementary math might look at this and figure a simple division problem will reveal the length of a month here. Many people have done this, including myself. I’m not saying I’m capable with arithmetic, I sometimes request the assistance of my husband when trying to help my fifth grader with his math homework. I’m just saying, I’ve been guilty of leaning on my own understanding here before, not pointing the finger at those who have also done this.
So, what we’ve done, is we’ve seen that this is saying that Noah was in the ark on the 17th of the 2nd month when the waters came, and that this lasted 150 days, until the 17th of the 7th month. We figured 150 days is about 5 months. If you divide 150 by 5 you get 30, so we averaged it out to say that there were 5 months with 30 days.
Sadly, many of us, myself included, have not tested this claim to see if that’s true. Testing this claim is as simple as dividing 150 by 5 to get 30. Okay, there might be a few more steps, but easy enough for my children to figure out. Instead of doing the math, we have been either drifting along saying “maybe so”, or we’ve actually made a commitment to this idea of a 29-day month IMpossibility, in the beginning. I’m going to challenge that belief. Not only that, I’m going to prove that it IS a possibility that Noah observed a 29-day month. I’m going to do the math. I’d like you to do it with me.
Let’s pretend the 2nd month had 30 days. Noah was in the ark with the waters prevailing commencing on the 17th day of the 2nd month. From the 17th of the month to the 30th are 14 days.
Let’s pretend the next month, the 3rd month, also had 30 days. He’s now been on the ark with the waters prevailing 44 days, because we’ve added the 30 days in the 3rd month to the 14 days he was on the ark in the 2nd month.
Let’s say the 4th month had 29 days. Now we have a total of 73 days. 14+30+29=73 days
Now, what if the 5th and 6th months were both 30 day months? Yes, this pattern of 30 day months occurring twice in a row with a 29-day month in between can and does happen, it’s a normal pattern. 30 days in the 5th month + 30 days in the 6th month = 60 days. Add the 60 to the 73 days from months 2, 3, and 4. 73+60=133.
Now we come to the 7th month. The waters prevailed until the 17th of the 7th month, so now we’ve got to add those 17 days in the 7th month to our sum. 133+17=150.
Huh. Isn’t that something? We’ve got 150 days made up of both 29 and 30 day months from the day the waters began to prevail in the 2nd month until the day they ceased in the 7th month. It turns out the claim that the Genesis account with Noah teaches 30 day months only is a lie!
Boy, those of us who believed, or even entertained for years the idea that a 29-day month in the beginning wasn’t possible are feeling PRETTY D-U-M-B right about now. I know I am. I think that’s called being humbled by YHUH. He sure is smarter than we are. We think we’re such geniuses.
Does this PROVE that YHUH had 29 day months from the beginning? No. However, it DOES PROVE that a 29-day month WAS POSSIBLE from the beginning.
Why do I even address this? Why does it even matter how long a year was in the beginning? I take issue with this claim because it has challenged the faith of many people, without good reason. Many people are discouraged in their walk with this claim that the calendar, and the lights in the heavens, have changed. They look up at the lights in the heavens, and they don’t see a calendar with 360-day luni-solar years, with 30 days in each month. We need to avoid offending one of the little ones if we can help it, and in this case, we can help it, by not claiming a “fact” when there isn’t a fact established in Genesis 7 and 8.
It’s been drilled into our minds, crammed down our throats, that this means it’s not possible for there to be 29 days in a month in this scenario. WHY does the adversary want us to believe this so much that this claim has been repeated to us so many times to get us to believe that a 29-day month did not exist in the days of Noah? There’s got to be a reason. We’ve got to be innocent as doves, but shrewd as serpents. It must be that the enemy does not want us to come to the truth. For what other reason are we bombarded with lies and half-truths?
For many of us, that belief that the years should be and once were 360 days only, and a month 30 days only, has become a stronghold used by the enemy to keep us from considering all the other possibilities, to keep us from hearing all the witnesses on the matter. The enemy wants to keep us leaning on our own understanding.
For instance, many people will not even take a glance at the apocrypha, books such as Enoch and Jubilees, simply because of the mention of a 364-day year in those books. A 364-day year does not gel with their 360-day year belief, so they quickly dismiss their testimony. They don’t take the time to examine what’s being said in these books more closely, they don’t try to understand how that works with the lights in the heavens outside right now, or how that works with the moon’s cycle. If someone asks them about how to calendate with the 29-day months we have, they can’t even wrap their head around the question, and can’t give an answer, because in their mind, we should have 30 day months only. They seem to believe that 29 day months are figments of our imagination, that’s how hard it can be to get past this barrier with this belief in an ancient 30-day month.
I cringe when I hear people say that the year we have been given by YHUH, with 29 day months occurring half the year, is not “perfect”. I guess it sounds to me, like they’re disrespecting the Creator, not appreciating His Creation of the lights in the heavens as they declare the glory of YHUH, not appreciating His calendar and His Word it’s found in. If YHUH gave us a year that is not 360 days, and He did, that year is perfect. It may not be man’s idea of “perfect”, when man leans on his own understanding, when man thinks He knows better than YHUH how to build a week, month, or year, but rest assured, YHUH brings forth everything He created exactly the way He designed it to come forth. The moon is NOT sick.
The apocrypha does not, and the Bible does not, witness to a solar-only calendar. If you read them together in the light of all the Scriptures, letting Scripture interpret Scripture, you see that they are additional witnesses to Genesis 1:14, Psalm 104:19, Leviticus 23:1-4, Lamentations 2:6, Hosea 2:11, Ezekiel 46:1, Isaiah 66:23, etc…that the moon is also for appointed times, in addition to the sun, and that there are New Moon days in addition to and outside of weeks, and that these Scriptures are witnesses that testify that the appointed times would be forgotten in Zion when the Temple was destroyed.
These things came to be, these prophecies were fulfilled, according to scripture, that makes Jubilees and its 364-day solar year that works together with the 354 luni-solar year, true. Since Enoch agrees with Jubilees and the Bible on this, that makes Enoch also out to be a true witness. According to Torah, we are required to hear all the witnesses out, and we are required to make a righteous judgement according to these witnesses. My judgement is that people are falsely representing what these apocryphal books claim, just like they misunderstand, lie about, and misinterpret what the Bible says. These books are in complete agreement with the Bible and its luni-solar calendar. They exalt the Torah of Moses, they prophesy of Messiah Yahusha, and what they said would happen has come to pass in regards to the appointed times having been forgotten in Zion. They claim to be written by messengers of YaHUaH, they come in His name. According to scripture, all this meets the requirements of a true prophet, that’s the definition of a true witness.
Will you sit on your hands and shrug your shoulders and refuse to make a judgement on the testimony of these witnesses – The Book of Jubilees and The Book of Enoch? What about the testimony of the moon? Will you cover your ears because you don’t want the responsibility of passing a judgment? Choosing to ignore the witnesses is a judgment, and a bad one. According to scripture, we are required to hear all the witnesses, and to judge with righteous judgment. YHUH is looking for righteous judges, not cowards. What will you decide?
