God's Calendar

Yahweh God is very specific about His appointed times in the bible.

God's calendar in the bible, the Hebrew calendar, is lunar, based on the moon; each new day begins in the evening and ends the following evening.  Our modern day calendar, the Gregorian calendar, is solar, based on the sun and each new day begins in the morning.

God's calendar and the Gregorian calendar have different names and times for their months.

I believe that Satan has deliberately confused us by changing dates so that we do not see the times and seasons of God's calendar in today's modern festivals.  I'm going to write about Christmas in this blog.

The Birth of Messiah

The story of the birth of Yeshua (Jesus) took place in Israel hundreds of years after the Babylonian exile, where the Hebrews had returned to Israel and the names of the months had changed.

After the Babylonian exile the sixth month was called 'Elul' in the Hebrew calendar.

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel visited Miriam (Mary) and revealed to her that she had been chosen by Yahweh to give birth to the Messiah:                    

Lk 1:26:-

'In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth...' The Jerusalem Bible.

'And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth...' The Gideon's International (within the British Isles).                                                  

And,

'In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee...' New Testament NIV New International Version.

Three extra words: 'of Elizabeth's pregnancy' have been added to the New International Version, so that the sixth month becomes the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy instead of the timing of the angel's visit. 

However, could the sixth month refer to both the timing of the angel's visit and the stage of Elizabeth's pregnancy?

I believe that Miriam was carrying the Messiah in her womb when she visited Elizabeth in the sixth month, the month of Elul, in the Hebrew calendar.

Luke writes that when Miriam entered the home of Elizabeth and greeted her, Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant, was filled with the Holy Spirit and her child leapt in her womb at Miriam's greeting.      

Elizabeth said,

'Of all women you are most blessed and blessed is the fruit of your womb.'  Lk 1:42

Elizabeth calls Miriam 'the mother of my Lord', Lk 1:43

Miriam's reply includes,

'from this day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me.' Lk 1:48-49

Three months later, the ninth month, the month of 'Kislev' in the Hebrew calendar, Miriam left the home of Elizabeth to journey back to her own home,

'Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.'. Lk 1:56

The Hebrew month of Kislev coincides with November-December in the Gregorian calendar.

I estimate that Miriam was about four months pregnant in November-December and I do not believe that Yeshua was born on 25th December, prematurely.

 The Passover Lamb

In the story of the Passover Yahweh commands that the blood of a sacrificed lamb be put on the doors and lintel of each house of the Hebrews, who were slaves in Egypt at the time, so that the destroyer angel sent by Yahweh would pass over the house and the first born would not be killed in the tenth and final plague.  The presence of the lamb's blood saved lives.

I believe that Yeshua was most likely born at Passover in the first month, the month of Nissan, to fulfil the role of the Passover lamb.  Passover lambs were born at Passover and kept for a year before they were slaughtered at the next Passover.

In the book of Leviticus it says,

'Yahweh spoke to Moses; he said..."These are my solemn festivals."' Lv 23:1-2

and

"The fourteenth day of the first month, between the two evenings, is the Passover of Yahweh;" Lv 23:5

I counted nine months from Yeshua's possible conception in August to his possible birth in April:

                    Month - August - conception

                    Month - September

                    Month - October

                    Month - November

                    Month - December

                    Month - January

                    Month - February

                    Month - March

                    Month - April - birth

A March-April birth coincides with the first month, the month of the Passover according to the Hebrew calendar.

Before the Babylonian exile the first month, the month of the Passover, is called Abib, and after the Babylonian exile it is called Nissan, which is March-April in the Gregorian calendar.

In the book of Deuteronomy it says,

'Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover for Yahweh your God, because it was in the month of Abib that Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night.'  Dt 16:1

After the final plague, the death of the first born, Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt after Pharaoh told them to leave.

The Good Shepherd

Finally, we can read in the gospel of Luke, chapter 2 verses 8 to 20, that shepherds were staying in the fields overnight with their flocks when angels appeared to them at night with the news that the Messiah had just been born. 

Why would the angels appear to lowly shepherds and not kings or priests with this important news?

The Messiah was prophesied to be born in Bethlehem and of the line of King David.  King David was a shepherd who was also born in Bethlehem.

Thirty years later Elizabeth's son, John, baptised Yeshua and called him 'the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world'.

Yeshua was crucified on Passover as the lambs were being slaughtered in Israel, and then three days later God raised Him from the dead so that if we believe in Him we will be saved.  This is the good news.  Praise Yahweh! Hallelujah!  Thank you, Yeshua, you are the Passover Lamb and the Good Shepherd.

This makes Passover the real Christmas in the bible, not December 25th!