Today is the beginning of the biblical new year

Happy New Year!!!! Biblically speaking of course.
Even though January 1st is celebrated as the beginning of the year over the world, as Christians, we need to consider that the Biblical New Year is far more important to us, than a day that was picked by the Romans.

1st of January and the beginning of the standard western/christian calendar

Janus – Museo del Duomo, Ferrara, Italy.

The month of January is named after an ancient Roman god named Janus/Ianus, who was the Roman god of doorways & archways, depicted having two faces, as the Romans believed he looked at the future as well as the past. As far back as 153BC, Roman consuls came to power on January 1st. In 45BC, when Julius Caesar introduced the Julian Calendar, January 1st became the official new year of the Roman Empire which has continued to be so, for more than 2000 years.

This ancient Julian Calendar which went through a few refinements in the year 1582 by Roman Catholic Pope Gregory XIII, is now known as the Gregorian Calendar. January 1st, remains from more than 2000 years ago, as the beginning of the Roman Year, a creation of the Roman Empire.

1st of Abib and the beginning of the Biblical calendar made by our Heavenly Father
The month of Abib/Aviv does not coincide with a month in the standard western calendar in any way. This means that the 1st day of the Biblical Year could fall on any day in the season of March/April. The biblical calendar is not one which is set in paper, but which is set in the heavens. When our Creator made the Sun, Moon & Stars, He proclaimed “let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years”.

What is Abib?
In the book of Exodus, as Moses brought about the 7th Plague which was “Hail”, we read the following

“Exo 9:31,32 And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear(Abib), and the flax was bolled. But the wheat and the rie were not smitten: for they were not grown up“
The Hebrew word “Abib” is translated here as “was in the ear”. The Strong’s Hebrew Concordance explains it as – H24 – אביב – aw-beeb’ – a young ear of grain; hence the name of the month Abib or Nisan

Abib barley discovered in the land of Israel in the end of March 2014

Abib is the Hebrew word used for the state of a crop which is, in between the stage of green colour ripening and completely ripe golden streaks. It is the stage when the grain is a light yellowish green colour. In the above passage we see that the barley crops were destroyed by hail while the wheat and rie were not damaged. The reason being, grains which are early in its development are flexible, becoming brittle as it ripens. The barley was destroyed and the wheat was not, as the barley had reached the stage in its development called Abib, becoming brittle enough to be damaged by the hail, while the wheat and rie were still early in their development, where they were flexible enough not to be damaged.

Exo 12:2  This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
Exo 13:4  This day came ye out in the month Abib.
Exo 34:18  The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.

We know that after the 7th Plague mentioned in Exo 9:30,31, two more plagues came over Egypt (namely locusts & Darkness for 3 days) before the 10th plague (Death of the Firstborn). The Passover happened on the 14th day of the First Biblical Month (Exo 12:2,6,11) freeing the children of Israel from slavery. As per Exo 9:30,31 the Barley was in the state of Abib, at the time of the 7th plague. Exo 12:2, 13:4, 34:18 further proves that the month in which the Children of Israel were set free from slavery was the first month, as per God’s directions. Not only is “Abib” the first month, it derives its name from the state of Barley known as “Abib” in the Scriptures.

But how does one go about uncovering the beginning of the biblical Year on his/her own?

The Sliver of the New Moon was sighted in Israel around 7.30pm on March 31st

The Biblical month is calculated by the revolutions of the Moon. One cycle of the moon, where it goes from dark to fully lit and dark again is known as a month. In fact, the words “Month” and “Moon” are interchangeable in the Hebrew language. Please read this study for more information. At the time when the first sliver is visible in the evening sky, the new month has begun.

With the above information from the Bible in hand, we can easily figure out the first month of the Biblical year. When the Barley is in the state of “Abib” and when you sight the sliver of the moon, a new Biblical Month has dawned. This was the case on the eve of Mar 31st, making the 1st of April 2014, the beginning of the Biblical Year this time around. Happy New Year!!!! and may you celebrate our Creator’s Appointed times as per His Commandment and as imitators of Christ!

The Biblical Feast dates/Appointed times of YHVH for the year 2014
(Please note that the below dates are only for the year 2014. These will not be the same next year)

1. Passover – begins on the eve/sundown of April 13 and ends on the eve/sundown of April 14 (The Passover Meal in remembrance of YHVH’s Salvation/Death of Christ is shared on the eve of April 14)
2. 1st Day of Unleavened Bread – begins on the eve/sundown of April 14 and ends on the eve/sundown of April 15 (This day is a High/Special Sabbath – no monetary work may be done on this day)
3. First Fruits – begins on the eve/sundown of April 19 and ends on the eve/sundown of April 20th
4. 7th Day of Unleavened Bread – begins on the eve/sundown of April 20 and ends on the eve/sundown of April 21 (This day is a High/Special Sabbath – no monetary work may be done on this day)
5. Shavuot/Pentecost – begins on the eve/sundown of June 7 and ends on the eve/sundown of June 8 (This day is a High/Special Sabbath – no monetary work may be done on this day)

The final 3 Biblical Feasts, which are Trumpets, Atonement & Tabernacles will be known only when we sight the 7th New Moon.

Historical Proof that Saturday is the Sabbath

Most of us have been taught that the Sabbath Day has been changed/moved to Sunday or that it is impossible to know the correct day which was kept as the Sabbath, even in the time of Christ. Even though there is no Scriptural or Historical proof to backup the theory that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday, by Christ or any of the Disciples, this is not what we hope to examine in this study.

This post provides 3 clear witnesses, as evidence to prove that the “Sabbath” day in the New Testament is in fact the day which is presently known as “Saturday”. The facts will be laid out for every discerning student of the Scriptures, to examine for themselves. Can history prove that the day we now call “Saturday” is the same day which was observed by Christ and His Disciples as the “Sabbath”? Let us examine the evidence.

Paul, in his first letter to Timothy writes “Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses”(1Ti 5:19) quoting a Law on judging people which was taken from the Old Testament(Deut 19:15). Similarly, we will also provide 3 witnesses to make the case that the word “Sabbath” was in fact the day which is known as “Saturday”. We sincerely hope that you will hear the facts from the 3 witnesses and decide for yourself, what verdict should be given.

Calling of Witnesses

Witness #1
A Roman historian named Cassius Dio who wrote about Roman History, gives an account of Wars waged between Rome & Judea. In it he explains the capture of Jerusalem in 63BC saying “As it was, they made an exception of what are called the days of Saturn, and by doing no work at all on those days afforded the Romans an opportunity in this interval to batter down the wall. The latter, on learning of this superstitious awe of theirs, made no serious attempts the rest of the time, but on those days, when they came round in succession, assaulted most vigorously.  Thus the defenders were captured on the day of Saturn, without making any defense, and all the wealth was plundered”. Cassius wrote that the Romans who learned that the Jews rested on the Days of Saturn (Saturday which was known as Saturn’s Day in Rome), attacked the Jerusalem stronghold on those days. These words also tally with the writings of Josephus, showing us that Saturn’s Day in Rome coincided with the day kept as the Sabbath by the Jews, even in the 1st Century BC.
Reference – Cassius Dio – Roman History 37.16.1-4 [A]

Witness #2
A Roman Soldier named Frontinus in his book named Strategems writes the account of the destruction of the 2nd temple in Jerusalem in 70AD, saying “The divine Vespasian attacked the Jews on the days of Saturn, on which it is forbidden for them to do anything serious, and prevailed.” Similar to the words of the historian Cassius Dio, this Roman soldier equated the day of rest (Sabbath) of the Jews to the Day of Saturn (Saturday which was known as Saturn’s Day in Rome). This account of Vespasian (also known as Titus) attacking Jerusalem on Sabbath days, tallies with the account seen in the Historical works of Josephus as well.
Reference – Frontinus – The Stratagems 2.1.17. [B]

Witness #3

The meaning of the Greek word Sabbaton (G4521) alongside all the occurrences in the New Testament

The Greek Language and the ancient Manuscripts of the New Testament also give evidence of the connection between the word “Sabbath” and the day which has been named “Saturday”. The Greek word “Sabbaton”(Strong’s Greek Concordance – G4521 – σάββατον) used in the Original Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament which is translated as “Sabbath” in English, is the same word that is used for “Saturday” in the Greek language even today. In other words, the day which is known to us as “Saturday”, is called “Sabbato” (σάββατο) by the Greeks even today. This is a remarkable piece of evidence which has survived almost untouched to our very present age, making “Sabbath” and “Saturday” one in the same. A person who is unsure about this fact can look at any Greek-English Dictionary to seek further verification. The easiest tool to translate English into Greek that anyone could use would be Google Translate, as seen in the thumbnail to your right. This goes to prove that wherever we see the word “Sabbath” in our New Testament English translations, it originally meant a particular day (which is proven to be none other than what we know as “Saturday” today.
Reference – Strong’s Greek Concordance & Dictionary [C]

Objections

Some bring objections against the above witnesses by arguing that one of the major calendar changes in history would have also affected the “Saturday Sabbath”. We need to consider this valid objection and see whether it holds true. This piece of evidence that is brought against our 3 witnesses is the “Julian to Gregorian calendar change”.

The Julian calendar was instituted in 46BC by Julius Caesar and was the most widely used calendar in Rome, making this the calendar which the Romans would have used in the time of Christ and subsequently His disciples.

The Gregorian calendar which is the civil calendar used by the whole world today, was put into effect in 1582AD by Pope Gregory XIII. Pope Gregory’s Calendar effectively skipped a few days, when this change was made to the Julian calendar in 1582. This is what most who object bring as a witness to say that the “Saturday Sabbath” would have for sure changed with this change that was done to the calendar system.

What most people do not understand is that the amount of days dropped from the Julian Calendar, when it was changed to the Gregorian calendar, did not in anyway effect the 7 day week. In other words, even though 10 days were removed from the calendar, it did not effect the individual days (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc.). An example is given in the above thumbnail which indicates this change of Calendars that was put into effect in 1752 in the UK. Note how the removal of days do not effect the 7 day week. (Please refer this link for more information on this subject)

Closing Argument

The testimony of the 3 witnesses makes it very clear that the Day which is known today as “Saturday” is none other than the “Sabbath” mentioned in the New Testament. The “Day of Saturn” or “Satur-day” was the day known by the Romans to be the same day as what was observed by the Jews as the Sabbath. The Greek word “Sabbaton” is the unmistakable proof that the word “Sabbath” in the New Testament, is in fact “Saturday”.

Through reading the New Testament alone, we know that the Pharisees disagreed on how Yeshua observed the Sabbath, but there were no arguments made against the day that was observed by Christ. This makes it clear that the same day that Christ kept in accordance to God’s 4th commandment (Mark 1:21, 6:2, Luke 4:16, 13:10) was the day which was widely observed by the Jews as the “Sabbath”.  This is also the same day that the disciples including Paul observed (Luke 23:56, Act 13:14, 15:21, 17:2, 18:4).

If Yeshua(Jesus’ true name) also kept God’s rest day on “Saturday”, it would be highly unlikely that the “Sabbath” instituted and instructed by God Almighty could be any other day. And because the 7 day week has not been effected in anyway for the past 2000 years, the “Saturday Sabbath” also has not been exposed to any change, making each “Saturday” the “Sabbath” day, instituted by our Heavenly Father and followed by Christ and His disciples. It is upto each of us to look at the provided evidence and make a judgement for ourselves. Whether we believe the Sabbath is “Saturday” as the witnesses suggest, or whether we refuse it, is completely in our own hands.

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[A] Pg 75, Jesus in Context: Background Readings for Gospel Study – edited by Darrell L. Bock, Gregory J. Herrick
[B] Pg 97, Sunday in Roman Paganism – By Robert Leo Odom
[C] Pg 1154, Main Concordance & Pg 79, Greek Dictionary of the New Testament – The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nelson’s KJV) – James Strong
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