March, 2016 | Try-God.org

Biblical Astronomy of the 2016 Solar and Lunar Signs

Biblical Astronomy of the 2016 Solar and Lunar Ecipleses on Hebrew Holy Days

Has anyone noticed that there is much controversy and confusion these days in Israel concerning the calendars of Judaism? If the Jews themselves can’t agree on which calendar applies this year, how do they expect the rest of us to know? Due to all the current controversy and confusion between these 2 calendars in Judaism, we must consider the following points, to find our way through the Hebrew Calendar Chaos of 2016.

The Biblical standard that determines the start of Hebrew Calendar months and the addition of the extra 13th month of Adar 2 should carry the most weight, not the traditions of men.(Exodus 12) tells us that the month of Spring, Abib (or Nisan), the month of the Exodus, is the “first month of the year,” and that Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are to be “at the time appointed in the month Abib, ” (Exod. 23:15). So the month of Abib sets the tone for the entire calendar year. This commandment to keep the feast “at the time appointed in the month Abib” (Exod. 23:15), means the calendar should keep Abib as close as possible to Spring (or Vernal Equinox), which allows the Moed of Passover to happen. Thus, the month of Abib is the month Passover falls in, after the Vernal Equinox. (For this reason the extra month of Adar 2 is not needed in 2016. Without the added 13th month, Passover now falls 2 days after the Vernal Equinox with a Lunar Eclipse on March 23rd, 2016!

Deut. 16:1 Observe the month of Abib and offer a Passover sacrifice to the Lord your God, for it was in the month of Abib, at night, that the Lord your God freed you from Egypt.

This is tells us Spring must come first, before Passover. Logically, if the “month of Spring” is the month where Passover falls after Spring has begun, we can see where the reasoning for this thinking originated. The “month of Spring” must be the New Moon that places Passover in the month of Spring, keeping the calendar aligned with Exodus 12 and 23:15. What has contributed to the current Calendar confusion in Israel is that the Sanhedrin as the ruling authority linked with timekeeping matters related to Hebrew Feasts and Holy days, was disbanded. In ancient Israel the sighting of the Crescent Moon was the method recognized by the Sanhedrin in determining the start of the month.

This was verified by two witnesses who reported to the Sanhedrin to make the final ruling on the start of each month and Adar 2. As a result of the Dispersion of the Jews among the Gentile nations, the Sanhedrin was disbanded. Hillel wanted to find a way for Israel, to observe the Hebrew Feasts and Holy Days in unity. But with the Sanhedrin disbanded they could no longer verify the sighting of the Aviv Barley/New Moon Crescent in Israel. Since predicting the New Moon Crescent was not possible, Hillel lead a group, acting on their own authority, that decided to determine their New Moon dates based on mathematical calculation, rather than on the physical sighting of the Crescent Moon, that cannot be mathematically calculated. Hillel knew this idea was against God’s Word, but he saw no alternative for Israel to keep any vestige of their calendar intact with out these provisions. In spite of this, it still took hundreds of years for Jews around the globe to accept this as an alternative calendar, and it has become their traditional Rabbinical Calendar since then.

In modern times the dates of this Rabbinical Calendar have always varied by 1-2 days with the Aviv Barley or the sighted Crescent Moon dates; but this year of Jubilee is the first time I can recall the dates of these two calendars aligning in harmony in 2016. Even more amazing is that the alignment of these two calendars in Judaism in this special 50-year Jubilee, holy days from Purim to Hanukkah are also lining up, with the Christian Calendar from Christ’s Resurrection to Christmas. The odds of all three of these calendars lining up like this in the same year are astronomical. The other criteria related to Adar 2 and the Passover is the status of the Barley Harvest in Israel.

There are multiple groups that search out the status of the barley harvest in Israel, and I made the mistake of following the advice of one well known observer of the Crescent Mew Moons in Israel, and leader of one of these groups who reported the lack of ripeness of Barley in Israel around March 9th, 2016. This resulted in my post on March 14th, where I had agreed with adding the 2nd month of Adar, meaning the Lunar Eclipse on March 23rd would mark the Purim Feast instead of Passover. Since this single group did not find enough Aviv Barley in Israel, many are choosing to delay the Hebrew New Year by another month, while others in Israel have since omitted Adar 2 according to the Rabbinical Calendar. This confusion prompted me to make a premature call to publish the Purim Blood Moon of 2016 post on this blog. However, I view this as somewhat providential since we were able to state both cases whether the extra month of Adar 2 was added, or not. As we will see there are benefits to this occurrence.

A more prudent approach which I have now decided to follow to avoid this confusion, involves following the results of the multiple groups that search the status of the Barley harvest in Israel. As a result, I found at least 3 groups in Israel inspecting the barley status, and all have a respected history of doing this for many years. Two of 3 of these groups found barley, in sufficient enough quantities to qualify for a “wave sheaf” offering for people making sacrificial wave offerings during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, 2-3 weeks prior to being fully matured and ripe for the wave sheaf offering, [Levi. 23:9-14] and the subsequent start of the countdown to Pentecost/Feast of Weeks.

I have included links below for two of these groups that both found ripe Barley in Israel this year so you can avoid the calendar confusion yourselves:

[http://www.eliyah.com/newyear2016.html]

[http://news.yrm.org/index.php/2016/03/]

I also must apologize to my readers for referring to the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on March 23rd as a “Blood Moon,” and using terms like “Blood Moon Sextet/Quintet“ implying the added lunar eclipses of 2016 were also Blood Moons like those of the Blood Moon Tetrad in 2014-2015. It was not my intention to mislead anyone and I’m posting these corrections to minimize any misunderstandings that may have occurred as a result. They key point I was making in the Blood Moon Bombshell post was that the recognition of ripe Barley in Israel added two more Lunar Eclipse events in 2016, to the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015. Although the two added Lunar Eclipses on Hebrew Feast and Holy Days with the four Blood Moons do make a highly unique event including 6 Lunar Eclipses from 2014-2016, the added 2016 events do not qualify as Blood Moons. That being said, it does not make these 2016 Lunar Eclipses any less significant, or less worthy of our undivided attention, because all 6 of these qualify as Lunar Eclipses in 3 consecutive years on Hebrew Feast days, just a little different and in a separate Biblical class from the Four Blood Moons! As we consider the import of these Penumbral Lunar Eclipses in 2016, we should point out the similarity to the Penumbral Lunar Eclipses that took place in 70 AD marking the Romans destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.

The following summary from our Biblical Blood Moon Calendar post, shows the 70 AD Roman
Temple Destruction as Jesus Prophesied.

Solar & Lunar Eclipses from 69-71 AD. 2016 Solar & Lunar Eclipses omitting Adar 2:

Partial Lunar Sukkot 10/18/69

Total Solar Nisan 1 3/30/70 Total Solar Eclipse 3/9/2016 on Nisan 1

Penum lunar Passover 4/14/70 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Passover 3/23/2016/ Nisan 14

Annular Solar Rosh Hash 9/23/70 Annular Solar Eclipse 9/3/2016/Trumpets Feast

Penum lunar Sukkot 10/08/70 Penum Lunar Eclipse 9/16/Sukkot/9-16 to 9/23/16

Partial Lunar Purim 3/4/71

Its interesting to note that if the ripe Barley determination had been made by the Total Solar Eclipse on March 9th, 2016 it would also have aligned with Nisan 1, even as above with the same sign on 3/30/70 AD! This comparison of Solar and Lunar signs between 70 AD and 2016 is truly remarkable! Also, as we mentioned in the Purim Blood Moon post, 71 AD was the last Lunar Eclipse on Purim that we can find in the intervening period up to today. The fascinating parallel here is that these Solar and Lunar signs marked the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD, while today we are looking for the return of a Third Jerusalem Temple as the next logical step to fulfill Biblical Prophecy following up to Israel’s reclamation of Jerusalem marked by the 1967-68′ Blood Moon Tetrad, in the 6-day War with Egypt. Thus we see the importance of these Solar and Penumbral Lunar Eclipses in 2016 as they align with the only other Sun and Moon signs on Hebrew Feasts that do not cluster as Blood Moon Tetrads over the last 2000 years!

As we mentioned above, Holy Days during this special 50-yr Jubilee from Purim to Hanukkah are also lining up, with Christian Calendars from the resurrection to Christmas. The odds of all 3 of these calendars aligning in the same year are astronomical. As stated in our blog post on The Purim Blood Moon: Jesus as the Prince of Peace provided peace to both the Jews and Gentles in His spiritual body of the Church. He has removed the obstacles of the Law and the Temple ordinances between Israel and Christian believers, unifying us in the Mystery of one new spiritual man, his spiritual body, nailing those obstacles in the Law, to the Cross. Another aspect of this Mystery is found in Romans 11.

Rom. 11:24-27
²⁴For if thou were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? ²⁵For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. ²⁶And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: ²⁷For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

The truth in the Mystery that Jesus as the Prince of Peace brought the Jews and Gentiles together in one Spiritual body, is based on the idea that the Gentile’s access to the Heavenly Father through Christ is based on the partial blindness that has come upon Israel, which opened the door to the Gentiles access to God’s Grace in Christ. For Messianic Jews perhaps this partial blindness is lifting, and none too soon as we approach the victorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ to harvest the believers of the Church of His Spiritual Body. As we we can see the signs of the approaching Third Temple in Jerusalem manifesting before us we should be vigilant to the reality of his Return.

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Footnotes

Purim Blood Moon

[http://www.eliyah.com/newyear2016.html]

[http://news.yrm.org/index.php/2016/03/]

The Blood Moon Bombshell of 2016?

Biblical Blood Moon Calendar

Purim Blood Moon on March 23rd, 2016

Purim Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on March 23rd, 2016

As a follow-up to our initial March blog post regarding “The Blood Moon Bombshell of 2016?“, we have noted that since the Barley Harvest in Israel was NOT found to be Aviv Barley, or ripe, that the extra 13th Month of Second Adar was added to the Hebrew Calendar. This puts the Passover on April 22nd of 2016, instead of aligning with the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on March 23rd, but this eclipse now lines up with the Feast of Purim in 2016.

The key heavenly signs in March of 2016 began with a Total Solar Eclipse on March 9th. However, had the Barley harvest been ripe, the March 9th New Moon/Total Solar Eclipse, would have made March 9th-align with Nisan 1, followed only 2 weeks later by a Nisan 14 Passover Lunar Eclipse on March 23rd! Even though we won’t have a Blood Moon Sextet 2014-2016, we will still have a fifth Lunar Eclipse falling on the key Hebrew Feast Day of Purim. This is no small matter because it follows the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015, giving us the first ever Blood Moon Quintet of 2014-2016! Purim on the Hebrew calendar also occurs before the Transit of Mercury, May 9th 2016.

What is unique about this Jubilee Year of 2016 is that Purim is on March 23, the exact time a Lunar Eclipse occurs, although its a Penumbral eclipse, so not all the lunar surface will be eclipsed. It falls 120 days after the Super Blood Moon of September 28, 2015. Specifically, Purim begins on the Hebrew Calendar on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2016 continuing through Thursday night, March 24^th. It will also be the first full Moon after the Spring Equinox. There is some confusion about the numerics and operation of the Jubilee Cycle. Jubilee Years are based on the Shemitah Years occurring every 7th year. Seven Shemitahs (7×7=49 years is Shemitah of Shemitah’s). The year following the 7th Shemitah is a Jubilee. The Jubilee Year follows the 7th Shemitah becoming the 50th year. However, if the Shemitah cycle continues every 7 years, then the next Jubilee year becomes the first of the next Shemitah cycle, where the next Jubilee follows 49 years after the first. However, if you start the next Shemitah cycle after the Jubilee then you have Jubilee years occurring every 50 years, but, this breaks the 7 year cycle. Bible scholars remain in disagreement as to which version is right. There is a method based on a 49 year cycle that keeps the 7 year cycle intact, which makes the most sense.
It is this method that we are using to calculate the current Jubilee cycle which is being witnessed this year 5776 on the Hebrew Calendar.

As a result of the lack of Aviv Barley this month in Israel, the Nisan 14 Passover did not fall on March 23rd aligning with the Penumbral Lunar eclipse, [Levi. 23:5]. However, this potential correlation with Nisan 14, still holds in the Christian world linked with the commemoration of Easter celebrations this weekend!

The great majority of traditional Christendom celebrates Easter weekend from “Good Friday” to Easter Sunday morning, yet [Matt. 12:40] tells us:

⁴⁰For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

This refers to 3/24 hour periods which does not match the time period from Good Friday to Easter Sunday! Also, Sunday was not the Sabbath on the Hebrew Calendar, only on pagan calendars. Saturday was however the Sabbath in Israel and when we back-track 3 days from Nisan 17, the weekly Sabbath will link with Jesus’ resurrection. Nisan 14 ties to the Crucifixion of Jesus, on Passover “Good Wednesday” in 28 AD. This gives us the proper date and timing that lines up with the Biblical record of three days and nights in the heart of the earth. As a result, we have a dual correlation of both Hebrew/Christian Holy days of Purim and Christ’s Crucifixion marked on Nisan 14, with a fifth Lunar Eclipse event in 2014-2016! Can we find significance for this in God’s Word? The Epistle of Ephesians is enlightening on this subject;

Ephesians 2:10-17
¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. ¹¹Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; ¹²That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: ¹³But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; ¹⁵Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; ¹⁶And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: ¹⁷And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

Jesus as the Prince of Peace has provided peace to both the Jews and Gentles in His spiritual body of the Church. He has removed the obstacles of the Law and the Temple ordinances between Israel and Christian believers, unifying us in one new spiritual man, his spiritual body, nailing those obstacles in the Law, to the Cross.

Ephesians 3:3-6

³How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote before in few words, ⁴Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ). ⁵Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; ⁶That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

This revolutionary accomplishment of Jesus Christ resulting from his crucifixion and resurrection from the dead, taking the sins of mankind upon him and unifying the Jews and Gentiles in one spiritual Body in Christ, is called a “mystery” or a secret of the Heavenly Father which was not revealed until the writings of the Church epistles by the Apostle Paul. Clearly, Christ is the unifying force for all humanity at every level of life, Body, Soul, and Spirit. [I Thess. 5:23] This monumental work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is emphasized by the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse aligning with both Purim for Israel and the Crucifixion of Christ leading to Easter and Resurrection weekend in Christianity! Is the Heavenly Father working to get our attention, to prepare us for our soon coming reality where Christians and Jews will be united in one spiritual body in Christ, at the right Hand of God? This will certainly be the result of the victorious Return of the our Lord Jesus Christ.

Purim is a story of both deliverance and a sudden destruction. Purim is a Hebrew holiday and has been incorporated much like Hanukkah into the list of Feasts that have been added to the 7 major Feasts of Jehovah. Can we find elements of Christ’s work foreshadowed in the Feast of Purim?

The meaningof the Feast of Purim is disclosed only in the Bible’s book of Esther. The beginning of the Book of Esther starts off with a 6-month feast of the King. As Purim amazingly aligns with a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse, when we consider the context of Hebrew Calendar and the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015 what is the message we can glean from a fifth lunar eclipse, 2 days following the Spring Equinox? The record of the history and origin of the Feast of Purim in the Book of Esther, is significant today for a number of reasons. Even as the evil Haman was bent on his genocidal plan against the Jews in the ancient Persian World Empire, so today there is a group of Islamic and other Nations conspiring to “wipe Israel off the map.” Purim is prophetic as it relates to the deliverance of God’s People from those enemies that seek to destroy the heritage of the Almighty, and Redeemer’s bl0od-line. The Biblical record of Esther not only shows the history and inception of the Feast of Purim, but also shares the elements of how the Heavenly Father saved His people, exhibiting His undying Love for Israel. God Saved His people not only so they could enjoy their lives, but also so He could bring them back to the Promised Land of Israel and the Holy city of Jerusalem. We can see this long-standing purpose of God because after nearly 2000 years of being dispersed among the Gentile Nations, in 1948-50 Israel was reformed as a nation-state, also marked by a Blood Moon Tetrad, and the Jews have been returning to their homeland ever since. But there is another over-riding purpose found in Esther, and that is the preservation of the Christ-line. Numerous times in history the enemy attempted to wipe the Hebrew Race from the face of the Earth because he knew it would bear man’s Redeemer. During the birth of Moses, the Egyptians killed the male Hebrew infants for this purpose. During the time of the Christ’s birth, Herod also had the male infants murdered around Bethlehem, for the same reason.

So we see the efforts of Haman to exterminate the nation of Israel along these lines. The setting for Esther was ancient Persia-modern-day Iran. Even as Daniel who also served under this 2^nd world Empire following Babylon from their capital city of Susa, Queen Esther, decided to stand up for the nation of Israel against Haman’s evil plot, she received favor from her King and Husband Xerxes I. Esther enjoyed the favor of the King’s Sceptre when she risked her life by entering the conference of the King. It is Interesting to note that; Biblically “a Sceptre can also be symbolic of a person!” In Numbers, we read;

(Numbers 24:17)”I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Seth.”

That Sceptre embodied the prophesied return of the Promised Seed, who came first over 1,900 years ago and by his sacrifice, provided redemption for all mankind. All who believe in Him, and follow Him, have a pathway back to God, who alone is able to deliver them from bloodthirsty hatred of the modern Haman’s. Our website study on the General Sign of the Celestial Prelude covers the significance of this Numbers 24 record regarding the Sceptre, in the context of the heavenly signs surrounding the birth of Christ. The heavenly birth signs for Christ are set to rewind in 2017, with a prominent role for Jupiter, the King Planet and Royal Sceptre of the King of Kings.

The following dates, show Jupiter-Venus conjunctions in Virgo in 2016-2017:

July 27th, 2016
Aug. 26-27th, 2016 [Jupiter enters Virgo]
Feb. 26th, 2017
Sept. 23rd, 2017 [Virgo clothed with the Sun/Moon @ feet]-Rev. 12:1-2
Nov. 13th, 2017

The two brightest planets – Venus and Jupiter – teamed up to provide the closest planetary conjunction of 2014, and it has been the closest Venus- Jupiter conjunction during the Blood Moon Quintet of 2014-2016, until August 27, 2016, when Jupiter enters Virgo to be “birthed” in 2017.

God is teaching us through His Hebrew Calendar providing focused attention on His final plan of redemption with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. God first instituted the Biblical Calendar of annual Festivals through Moses (Levi. 23), which included the yearly counting of days and weeks, so that His people might rehearse the 50 days between His Passover, death and resurrection, and Pentecost with the power of the Holy Spirit. Finally these end-time events leading up to the Jubilee and Day of the LORD. He also gave us the signs of the Sun, Moon and Stars in Biblical Astronomy, relating to His Feasts and Holy days so that we would be ready and forewarned of the times wherein we reside.

As Iran, at that time was the world superpower, so too does Iran now seek to recapture their previous position over Israel once again. Amalek was one preventing the Jews from passing through his land on their Exodus to the Promised Land under Moses. Haman’s bloodline came from Amalek’s, the traditional enemies of the Israel. This parallel bloodline has and continues to contest God’s people for the inheritance of the Promised Land-the city of Jerusalem and coming Temple on the Mount. The conspiracy in the time of Esther was that a descendant of Amalek-Haman plotted to trick the King, Xerxes I or Ahasuerus to murder all the Jews and rid the empire of them as Amalek desried.

This conspiracy is alive and well in modern Iran who is already a major partner with Russia comprising a confederacy of Muslim nations that will attack Israel during the first Gog-Magog invasion. This plot was revealed to Mordecai, a relative of Esther who raised her. At the Queen’s own peril, Esther interceded on behalf of God’s People. Because of their sacrificial and selfless acts, God worked in Esther and Mordecai to overt a genocide. The Christian genocide currently being waged by the modern Haman’s in the Muslim world primarily, will one day see a sudden destruction come upon them. Even as the effect of Haman’s plot was exercised upon his own head and all his family, the modern nations plotting against Israel, and the Church body of Christ will experience a similar more awesome destruction.

With this week’s Penumbral Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse on the Feast of Purim, taking place during a Hebrew Jubilee Year, it should get our attention for the following reasons.

One can not help, but be struck by the unique and very rare occurrence of the Tetrad of four Blood Moons during the Shemitah of Shemitah’s, and now the Jubilee comes with yet another Lunar eclipse on Purim, forming a Quintet of Blood Moons on Hebrew Holidays from 2014-2016. This is not the first Lunar Eclipse to fall on Purim. According to our Biblical Blood Moon Calendar, back on March 4th of 71 AD, soon after the Romans had destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, prophesied by Jesus Christ, a Partial Lunar Eclipse took place. This marked the removal of God from His Temple in stages, and the dispersion of the Jews among the Gentile Nations. With this fifth Blood Moon on Purim, we may be witnessing an indicator of God’s gradual return in stages to a New Temple on the Mount, the natural outcome of forming of the State of Israel, and the Restoration of Jerusalem to Israel’s control, both marked by Blood Moon Tetrads in 1949-50 and 1967-68.

Let’s stay vigilant as we continue to watch the skies for the heavenly signs that align with Scripture to tell us what time it is…

Footnotes

1. “Blood Moon Bombshell of 2016?” [blog.try-god.org] March 2016
2. Ephesians 2:10-17 KJV
3. Ephesians 3:3-6 KJV
4. Numbers 24:17 KJV
5. “The General Sign of the Celestial Prelude” [www.try-god.com]
6. Biblical Blood Moon Calendar [blog.try-god.org] Aug. 2014

Pi Day-3/14/2016

As we recognize Pi Day on 3-14-2016, its required reading to realize how the Creator utilized this famous mathematical proportion of Pi in Scripture and practically in the construction of His Temple and Tabernacle, which are patterns for the heavenly versions of the Creator’s dwelling place!

These applications of the Pi Ratio in the Bible, provide insights into the Creator’s Intelligent Design of His Creation, so that man would see the fingerprints of the Almighty embedded in the Natural Laws of the Universe, and the Mathematics of Astronomy, reflecting the same Pi ratio evident in the construction of the Great Pyramid.

What a great way to honor God and His Omnipotent Power and Wisdom as He illustrates the beauty of His Hand in operation in His Works…

As a foot note to our previous March post regarding the “Blood Moon Bomb Shell of 2016” the Barley was NOT found to be ripe or Aviv, by March 10th last week in Israel, so the dictates of the Rabbinical Calendar and their mathematical calculation of the Feast and Holy days in Israel for 2016 went into effect. This sets the Nisan 14 Passover date to April 22nd, 2016, since 2016 corresponds to the Hebrew Calendar year 5776-in Judaic inter-calation; also a leap year where the 2nd Adar month is now added. Thus, we will not see the added Blood Moons on Hebrew Holy days this year, but there still may be important implications for 2016 concerning the leap year-so stay tuned to our blog for the news concerning these announcements…

The Blood Moon Bombshell of 2016?

The Blood Moon Sextet of 2016?

Since the Summer of 2014 we have chronicled in this blog, the history of Blood Moons on the Lord’s Feast days, and important heavenly signs related to the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015. As a result of an updated view of Bible timekeeping practices, new information has come to light which could have a major impact on the story of the Blood Moons that has dominated the headlines of numerous international media, TV, radio, newspapers, websites, blogs for the last two years. This information could change the entire landscape of the Blood Moon phenomena as the record has been documented up to this point. We will verify in a few short days if this in fact is the case, but for now the summary in this blog post details the key points of this exciting story.

The key heavenly signs in March of 2016 begin with a Total Solar Eclipse on March 9th. From a mundane point of view, there does not seem to be anything special about this particular Solar Eclipse besides the fact that it is Total. However, this March 9th New Moon/Total Solar Eclipse becomes increasingly critical when seen in light of the original Hebrew Calendar. Two key aspects of this Hebrew Calendar are the determination of the start of each month, according to the sighting of the New Moon, and the determination of adding the extra 13th month or second Adar, to keep the seasons aligned with the months. The ripeness of the barley is the key determinant of when the extra month is added to their calendar year. Thus, the state of the barley is verified towards the end of the 12th month. If the barley is Aviv at this time, then the following New Moon becomes the “New Moon of Aviv.” This is the situation in the coming week when the barley will be checked for ripeness in Israel by March 9th. If the barley is ripe that will make March 9th-Nisan 1, followed by Passover 2 weeks later on March 23rd, aligning with a Full Moon Penumbral lunar eclipse! If the barley is still not ripened enough, then another month [Second Adar] must be added and the barley checked again at the end of this 13th month.

At first, the Hebrew Biblical year was determined by the sighting of the first New Moon, while addition of the 13th month was dependent upon when the barley crop reached “Aviv,” or as it turned from a darker to a lighter green-yellowish shade. This month also coincides with Passover [Deut. 16:1, Ex. 13:4] to commemorate the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. Later however, a tradition was popularized by Maimonides which has been used since the 11th century when the Jews replaced barley crop criteria with a calculated method of the keeping the Lord’s Feast and Holy Days.1 Calculation allows the convenience of the advance scheduling of their Feasts, rather than the sighting of the New Moon to determine the months and days of Jehovah’s Feasts. The difference between these two methods may seem trivial on the surface, but in the context of the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015, it most assuredly is not!

Exodus 34:18 KJV

“And the Feast of Unleavened Bread thou shalt keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time of the month of the Aviv, for in the month of the Aviv thou came out of Egypt.”

Aviv Barley in the Jordan Valley; early March, 2016

Current events in Israel shows core groups who recognize the start of the month based on the sighting of the New Crescent Moon, and the barley harvest, and in this special year of the Hebrew Jubilee, it is even more important that we recognize the Lord’s Feast and Holy days according to all the provisions of this original Biblical Standard. Head of the Year or the first month of the Biblical Year is to be declared on the first New Moon Day after the first complete shocks of Aviv barley are seen in the Land of Israel. [Ex. 12:2] Nehemia Gordon has been checking “Aviv,” annually in Israel for quite a while now, and according to his blog, he has already found harvest-ready barley during this week’s examination in the Jordan Valley, [pictured above] so “there’s a good chance the next New Moon will be the beginning of the Hebrew year, but not a certainty.” This will be verified however by the second week in March. That being said the Nisan 14 Passover may fall on March 23rd aligning with the Full Blood Moon Lunar eclipse, [Levi. 23:5] depending on the determination of the ripeness of the barley harvest about March 8th-9th. This earlier March date is another key due to the March 9th, Nisan 1/New Moon/Total Solar Eclipse set to take place marking the final decision on the barley crop status, to see if its ready for the Wave Offering in Judaism, on the Day of Unleavened Bread. [Levi 23:10] We may recall that there was also a very unique Total Solar Eclipse on 3/20/2015, and it is instructive to realize some common points shared by these consecutive March eclipses. They both are Super Moon Eclipses, and if the barley is ripe, they both will take place on Nisan 1.

Many of us who followed the celestial activity linked to the Blood Moons of 2014-2015 are indebted to Mark Biltz for his admirable work uncovering much of this information. One question arises however, is why is there very little to no data concerning the Lunar Eclipses of 2016? One likely answer is that the “calculated” method of determining the Lord’s Feast dates, utilized by Mark Biltz has already set the Nisan 14 Passover date to April 22nd, 2016, because 2016 corresponds to the Hebrew Calendar year 5776-in Judaic intercalation; a leap year where the 2nd Adar month is added. The calculation erroneously pushes the start of the first month out another 30 days, throwing off the alignment of the heavenly signs of the Sun/Moon with the Lord’s Feasts in the Hebrew Jubilee year of 5776, while ignoring the results of the Crescent New Moon sighting method, that favors instead a fifth Blood Moon on Passover for a THIRD consecutive year. This comes on the heels of the Sept. 28th, 2015 Super Blood Moon on the Feast of Tabernacles. In our Blood Moon Tetrad history provided in the Biblical Blood Moon Calendar, this has never previously occurred! In effect this would constitute the first Blood Moon Sextet; a 6-Lunar Eclipse event over 3 consecutive years since Christ was crucified.

If indeed the ripe barley is verified next week, what a huge event this would be to overlook, but this is not the only lunar event in 2016 that would align with Feast days of the Lord. The following is a list of potential heavenly signs of 2016, should a ripe barley crop be verified.

March 9th, 2016- Nisan 1/New Years, Super New Moon/Total Solar Eclipse
March 23rd, 2016-Nisan 14, Passover Full Moon/Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
Sept. 1st, 2016 Annular Solar Eclipse on Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets.
Sept. 16, 2016 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on the Feast of Tabernacles

The Total Solar Eclipse on March 9, 2016 will appear over the Pacific, while the 3/23 Passover Blood Moon will be visible over North/South America as well as Australia, most of Asia and Russia, but not over Israel. The next Solar Eclipse on September 1, 2016 occurs over South Africa. This would also be the Feast of Trumpets- the first day of Tishri, the 7th month. Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles then begins on September 16, 2016, with a 6th Lunar Eclipse, visible over Israel, Asia, Europe and Russia. With these added Lunar Events in 2016 we can see in the list below each Passover and Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot aligning over a 3-year period from 2014-2016, with Solar and Lunar signs on the Lord’s Feast and holy days forming the first Blood Moon Sextet in history. Since the 2014-2015 Blood Moon Tetrad uniquely marked both Shemitah and Jubilee years, the singular nature of a Blood Moon Sextet certainly jumps off the Hebrew Calendar, marking 2016 as a year that demands our fullest attention concerning the elevated emphasis the Creator has placed on this Jubilee.

Nisan 1 Total Solar Eclipse, March 9th

Feast of Trumpets Annular Solar Eclipse
Sukkot Lunar Eclipse, September 16, 2016

With these Feasts and Holy days of the Lord marked with Lunar and Solar Eclipses for the third year in a row, during the Year of the Hebrew Jubilee these events can by no means be overlooked, and as we monitor the results of the barley crop, we will see if the final results align with the expectations that this crop will indeed be ripe. The calculated method allows us to predict when the first crescent of the New Moon becomes visible, but the accuracy of these predictions does not extend to the presence of clouds, which can obscure our view. Adhering to the wisdom of the ALMIGHTY eliminates the errors of not simply waiting patiently until the sighting of the first lunar crescent of the New Moon. More importantly, the spiritual benefits seen above in the added Blood Moons of 2016, discovered while keeping a calendar based on waiting upon the Lord, instead of human methods of mathematical calculation, illustrates the infinite benefits of God’s timing versus man’s. This method of calculation obscures a massive truth in 2016-a unique Jubilee Year, because by blocking the recognition of the Passover that takes place on March 23rd instead of April 22nd, we miss out on an added potential Lunar and Solar Eclipses falling on the Lord’s Feast and Holy days, on the heels of the 2014-2015 Blood Moon Tetrad!

The calculated method became a popular tradition originally based on the practice of the Sanhedrin verifying the testimony of the two eyewitnesses who documented the first appearance of the New Crescent Moon, to start the new month. In the mid-4th century BC, the famed Priest Hillel added these calculations to the written record, established by Maimonides in the 11th century AD. Based on this tradition, the calendar in Israel is lunar based, it requires the intercalation of a 13th month, in 7 years out of a 19-year cycle. According to the Talmud; the lunar observations linked with the “New Moons of Nisan and Tishri were so important that the two witnesses might even exceed the 2000 cubit travel limit on the Sabbath to bring their report to Jerusalem.”5 Based on their observations, the head [Nasi] of the Sanhedrin sanctified the New Moon, and a trumpet was sounded, [Ps. 81:3]. This exhibits the importance attached to the process of sanctifying the New Moon in Judaism, which has been obscured by the calculation method for much of the last millennium.

The following is a list of simulated Feast Dates from an independent Jewish source (if ripe barley is found before 10 March 2016): from LTRadio [www.ltradio.org/articles]

Pesach/Passover- Sunset 23 March 2016 – Sunset 24 March 2016 [Lunar Eclipse]

Feast of Unleavened Bread- Sunset 24 March 2016 – Sunset 31 March 2016

Feast of First Fruits (Resurrection)- Sunset 27 March 2016 – Sunset 28 March 2016

Shavuot/Pentecost- Sunset 15 May 2016 – Sunset 16 May 2016

Teshuvah (40 Days of Repentance)- Sunset 4 August 2016 – Sunset 11 September 2016

Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets)- Sunset 2 September 2016 – Sunset 4 September 2016 [Annular Solar Eclipse]

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)- Sunset 11 September 2016 – Sunset 12 September 2016

Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles)- Sunset 16 September 2016 – Sunset 23 October 2016 [Lunar Eclipse]

Hanukkah (Feast of Lights)- Sunset 24 November 2016 – Sunset 1 December 2016

As we anxiously await the results of the March 9th verification of Aviv Barley in the Jordan Valley, we are excited and blessed to illustrate the benefits of recognizing the importance of adhering to the wisdom and patience of the Almighty, when it comes to the determination of His Feast and Holy Days. This is an eternal guiding principle whether ripe barley is sufficiently verified next week or not, it reminds us the Man’s wisdom can never replace the Omniscient wisdom of the Creator, Who spun the celestial bodies in their orbits according to His perfect timing at Creation. We can only stand in Praiseful Awe of His Glory and Virtue-Amen!!

Footnotes

1. “Light from the Ancient Past” Jack Finegan, p. 578
2. Exodus 34:18 KJV
3. “Nehemiah’s Wall.” Nehemia Gordon’s Blog
4. Biblical Blood Moon Calendar [blog.try-god.org] Aug. 2014
5. Talmud, Tractate Rosh Hashanah 19b sbt p.81 n4.
6. LTRadio [www.ltradio.org/articles]

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Purim Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on March 23rd, 2016

Nisan 1 Total Solar Eclipse, March 9th

Feast of Trumpets Annular Solar Eclipse Sukkot Lunar Eclipse, September 16, 2016

Feast of Trumpets Annular Solar Eclipse
Sukkot Lunar Eclipse, September 16, 2016