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Biblical Astronomy of the Blood Moon Tetrads and Judah Ben Samuel’s Jubilee Prophecies [Part 1.]

Biblical Astronomy of the Blood Moon Tetrads and Judah Ben Samuel’s Jubilee Prophecies [Part 1]

In our August 2015 post on the Partial Solar Eclipse; 9-13-2015, we referenced some truths regarding Israel seen as a Fig Tree in the Bible. The following section from that post provides a key foundation for this month’s post on Judah Ben Samuel’s Jubilee Prophecies.

Luke 21:24-33

“²⁴They will fall by ^[f]the mouth and the edge of the sword and will be led away as captives to and among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (completed). 25 And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; ²⁶men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.²⁸Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. ²⁹Then He spoke to them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. ³⁰When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. ³¹So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. ³²Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. ³³Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

Biblically, the Fig Tree is a symbol of Israel, as we will see later. As we compare the Blood Moon Tetrads in 1949-50 and 1967-68, we have noted that they are 19 years apart, but each of these Blood Moon Tetrads represent a stage in the restoration of Israel, first as a nation, second with the recapture of its capital city of Jerusalem.

The following insightful details come to us from the good people @ [360 day calendar.com]

“Why wasn’t Israel fully restored in 1948, including the temple mount?

Ans. In Ezekiel’s account of the fall of Jerusalem, God’s Spirit departs from the temple and leaves Jerusalem in specific stages (beginning 592 BC) and then comes back in stages 19 years later in 573 BC, (Ezek. 8, 40). In the same way, Israel is now being restored in stages — each stage on a time-frame predicted by the Bible. The next stage in God’s plan for Jerusalem also happened exactly 19 years after Israel became a nation in 1948: The 1967, Six-Day War.

The next stage in Israel’s restoration was the six-day war waged exactly 19 years later, to the day on the 360 calendar, June 5-10, 1967. In this war, the Temple Mount was captured along with east Jerusalem. Thus, June 5th, 1967, was also Pentecost on the 360 calendar.

But why 19 years later?

Ans. Because, from Ezekiel’s vision about the temple (573 BC) until when Israel became a nation are 1260 + 1260 years, that is 2520 years. (2520 days represents a seven-year period on the 360 calendar. {360 x 7 = 2520 days.}) Thus, 2520 plus 19 more years equals 2539. And so, from 573 BC to 1967 are 2539 years.

So, what’s important about 2539 years?

It happens that seven years on the regular Jewish calendar amounts to 2539 days in both 1948 and 1967. Thus, the seventh anniversary after Israel became a nation occurred exactly 2539 days later on the regular Jewish calendar, (i.e., 1948-1955). And the same is true of the seventh anniversary of the 1967 War, (i.e., 1967-1974). Hence, in God’s heavenly schematic, 2539 days correspond to the previous 2539 years back to the prophecy of Ezekiel in 573 BC!”1

This is an example of a Biblical Prophecy that has a dual significance that fits for both days and years. We will see another example of this when we discuss the “70 Weeks Prophecy” in Daniel 9, in Part 2 of this post next month, as it relates to the ministry of Jesus Christ among other things.

What has escaped the notice of most regarding Luke 21:24-33 is that Jesus’ prophecy relating to Jerusalem being over-run and controlled by the Gentiles, in verse 24 sets the immediate context of the astronomical signs of the Sun, Moon and Stars and the distress of the nations in verse 25. This should direct our focus on the heavenly signs surrounding the periods bracketing the Roman’s destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD, because this was the inception of a period when the Jerusalem Temple was down-trodden by the Gentiles. Conversely, with Israel’s recapture of Jerusalem in 1967, followed by the events surrounding their control of the Temple Mount, we can see the first stages of God’s restoration of Israel. Since the Luni-solar eclipse cycles are part of the heavenly signs of the Sun, Moon and Stars, including the modern Blood Moon Tetrads, there should be much we can learn from the this study. More on this later.

Figure A.

Blood Moon over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

What we also see in these 360 calendar links to the history of Israel is the annual pattern of sevens or the Sabbatical/Shemitah cycle built into the 360 day calendar. This pattern has been established in detail with the Biblical septenary temporal cycles starting with the Creation Week, setting the stage for Sabbaths not to mention Jonathan Kahn’s books like ‘The Harbinger,” that has seen the first realized correlation of a Sabbatical/Shemitah cycle with the 50-year Hebrew Jubilee in the current calendar cycle of 5776/2016. The key dates in 1949-50 and 1967-68 referenced above relative to Israel’s restoration marked by the modern Blood Moon Tetrads on Hebrew Feast and Holy days, are another level of divine marking from the Hand of God, establishing the authenticity of these heavenly signs for those who are paying attention. [Gen. 1:14-18]

A key with the final Super Blood Moon of the most recent 2014-2015 Blood Moon Tetrad is that it takes place after the Hebrew Jubilee opened on the Sept. 23rd, 2015. This gets our attention since the Super Blood Moon was the first Blood Moon of the 2014-2015 Tetrad visible in Jerusalem. As we correlate with the two previous Jubilees in 1917 and 1967, we find an intriguing history where in 1917, Jerusalem was liberated from the Ottoman Turks under General Allenby, just a few weeks after the Balfour Declaration promised Israel a homeland. Since this date in Dec. 1917 represents a prophetic time span of Shemitah cycles [360 x 7] totaling 2,520 years going back to 604 BC when King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, leading Israel away into the Babylonian Captivity. During this campaign, General Allenby’s planes buzzed Jerusalem with numerous fly-overs, dropping surrender leaflets on the Ottoman forces, causing the Turks to “wave the white flag” without casualty. As Isaiah tells us regarding the way Jerusalem would be delivered;

Isaiah 31:4b-5: “so shall the Lord of Hosts come down to fight for Mt. Zion and for the hill thereof, As birds flying, so will the Lord of Hosts defend Jerusalem; defending, also He will deliver it; and passing over, He will preserve it.”

In the details of this deliverance we can see the Hand of the Almighty working to fulfill this promise, even in the motto inscribed on the badge of the bomber squadron chosen to liberate Jerusalem which read: “I spread my wings and keep my promise.” This Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps took Jerusalem “as flying birds” and defended it, and passing over it, preserved it, fulfilling every detail of this prophecy.

With this backgroundsetting the context for this post, lets now consider the Judah Ben Samuel’s Jubilee Prophecies. Rabbi Judah Ben Samuel lived during the time of the Roman/Christian Crusades in the Holy Land between 1096-1270 AD. It was during this time that Rabbi Judah Ben Samuel began publishing his “Jubilee Prophecies,” with added Gematria calculations, and astronomical observations, summarized on the internet today. As news traveled between the Holy Land and Europe found its way to the rabbis and the clergy in Worms and Regensburg Germany, the good Rabbi walked many of the same steps as Martin Luther 300 years later, as he lead the Reformation against the Roman Catholic Church in the “Diet at Worms.“ A synopsis of the Rabbi’s prophecies is found below-

“When the Ottomans (Turks) – who were already a power to be reckoned with on the Bosporus in the time of Judah Ben Samuel – conquer Jerusalem they will rule over Jerusalem for eight Jubilees. Afterwards, Jerusalem will become no-man’s land for one Jubilee, and then in the ninth Jubilee it will once again come back into the possession of the Jewish nation – which would signify the beginning of the Messianic end time.”2 Leviticus 25, tells us every 50 year Jubilee period each person regains ownership of their lands. As Rabbi Judah Ben Samuel beheld the future, his predictions today seem to be amazingly accurate. It was over 3 centuriesfollowing his death however, before his first prediction came to pass. The current Jubilee of 5776/2016 is a special hybrid of Shemitah/Jubilee cyclesthat coincides with the conclusion of Judah Ben Samuel’s 10th Jubilee marking the Messianic End Times.

Picture credit from September2021.com [3.]

Although Judah Ben Samuel’s Jubilee Prophecies are extra-Biblical in nature, they embody another key historical layer of verification in the divine patterns of these signs of the last days, as seen in the 50-year Hebrew Jubilee. The veracity of these prophecies has been questioned, but when viewed in the context of the existing pattern of sacred Hebrew calendars of the Shemitah/Sabbath and Jubilees, along with the Hebrew Feast and Holy days marked by the modern Blood Moon Tetrads about which Judah Ben Samuel referenced nothing in his writings, they gain added credibility.

Ludwig Schneider of Israel Today Magazine translated Judah Ben Samuel’s (1140-1217) writings into English. “…According to his article, Rabbi Judah Ben Samuel was a scholar of the Talmud in Germany. Just before he died in the year 1217 he predicted that the Ottoman Turks would rule over the holy city of Jerusalem for eight Jubilees, or 400 years (8 x 50). The Ottoman Turks did take control of Jerusalem 300 years after the Rabbi’s death in 1517 and according to the prophecy, the Ottoman Turks then lost Jerusalem 4 centuries later in 1917. It was during WWI that British General Edmund Allenby walked into Jerusalem on Hanukkah without firing a shot in 1917. This event falling on Hanukkah and the ease in which it took place, make this moment of history very notable. Judah Ben Samuel’s prophecy also said following the eighth Jubilee, the ninth Jubilee would find Jerusalem a no-man’s-land, which it was from 1917 to 1967, until the Six-Day-War. The Rabbi then predicted in the 10th Jubilee-Jerusalem would be controlled by Israel and then the Messianic end times would begin. The completion of this Tenth Jubilee brings us to the year 2017.” It is critical to realize that at the conclusion of this 10th Jubilee in 2017, we also will see the repeat of the Rev. 12 heavenly signs marking the Birth of Christ in 3 BC. Jubilee 11: Begins at Yom Kippur 9/30/17, marking a potential predicted period for the return of Christ.4

From the Balfour Declaration on November 2, 1917-during the 1917-1918 Jubilee, to the retaking of the Western Wall during the 1966-1967 Jubilee, to the current Jubilee from September 2015 to the fall of 2016, God is at work restoring His Blessings to Israel in stages. The Temple Mount seems the next logical stage of this restoration process, perhaps even during the current Jubilee.

In Israel’s War of Independence against five Islamic nations, the Jerusalem remained a “divided city.” The Jordanian government controlled the eastern part of Jerusalem including the Temple Mount and the Old City of Jerusalem. A strip of land divided Israeli control of Western Jerusalem and Jordanian run East Jerusalem. This strip of land was called “No-Man’s Land” by both Israelis and Jordanians. After the 6-Day War, on June 17, 1967, the Israeli Army controlled the entire West Bank and all of Jerusalem was returned to their possession, 750 years after Judah Ben Samuel made this prediction, these events fulfilled all the conditions of the prophecy. Then came the Rabbi’s last piece of his prediction:

“In the ninth Jubilee, Jerusalem will once again come back into the possession of the Jewish nation – which will signify the beginning of the Messianic end time.”

As we have already seen with our opening verses in Luke 21:24-33, Jesus’ prophecy relating to Jerusalem being over-run by the Gentiles sets the context for the heavenly signs of the Sun, Moon and Stars of the end times. Scholars and Blood Moon enthusiasts have focused on the luni-solar signs, but have neglected their relation to Jerusalem. To understand this better, lets look at added evidence of this in Joel 2 setting the table for Joel 3.

Joel 2:30-32

³⁰And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. ³¹The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. ³²And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.

This is one of the main “Blood Moon Prophecies” that occurs prior to the victorious return of the Lord, both FOR and WITH his Saints. These verses at the end of Joel 2 provide the immediate context for the prophecy relating to Jerusalem and the Gog-Magog alliance of Gentile nations we can see gathering around Jerusalem setting the stage for coming final battle of Armageddon at the start of Joel 3.

Joel 3:1-2

1 “For behold, in those [climactic] days and at that time,
When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
²I will gather together all the [Gentile] nations [that were hostile to My people]
And bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat (the Lord has judged).
And there I will deal with them and enter into judgment with them there
For [their treatment of] My people, My inheritance, Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations,
And [because] they have encroached on My land and divided it up.

The sensational focus on the Blood Moon phenomena, not only in Christianity but also in the secular media, has detracted from the reason for the Blood Moon Tetrads in the first place, which is the disposition of Jerusalem and specifically the Temple Mount that determines the final stages of God’s deliverance of Israel and the Church-the Body of Christ. The fact that we have completed the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015, and now find ourselves in the Shemitah/Jubilee of 5776/2016 with two more solar and lunar eclipses on Hebrew Feast-holidays, indicates that we are in a final period forewarningof the victorious Return of the Lord Jesus Christ, closing out world history.

The “Jubilee/Shemitah for Jerusalem that we find ourselves in today, depicts a level of God’s restoration of Israel in response to the Gentile domination of Jerusalem starting in 70 AD when Jerusalem was conquered by the Romans who destroyed the Temple. As Joel 3:2 relates the persecution of Israel where the Jews were either killed, starved, or sold into slavery. This ensued in centuries of the Gentiles over-running Jerusalem starting with the Romans, followed by Muslimforces, including the Ottoman Turks predicted by Judah Ben Samuel, who held it until 1917 when the Allied Forces under General Allenby delivered the Holy city. Calculating from 1917, the next Jubilee would be 1967 a half century later! If we start with the return of Jerusalem to Israeli controlin 1967 making 1966 the 49th Shemitah. The next Jubilee = (7 cycles of 7 Years = 49): 1966 + 7 x 7= 2015. Since 70 AD, Old Jerusalem was not under Israeli sovereignty until the one week war with Egypt in 1967. This makes the liberation of Jerusalem on June 7, 1967 a key pivotal point in modern Bible history and Prophecy marking a specific critical period of the End Times.

In the Declaration of Balfour Nov 2, 1917, British Foreign Minister Balfour pledged support for establishment of a “Jewish national home in Palestine.” During this 1917-18 Jubilee, there were other heavenly signs and planetary conjunctions taking place that tell related parts of the story of the restoration of Jerusalem and Israel. As we observe the movements of the planet Mars during this period, more truths come to light. The retrograde motion of Mars representing the Warrior Archangel Michael who fights for God’s people, moved in conjunction with Regulus the king star in Leo. This depicts the conflict surrounding God’s restoration of His people, versus our spiritual enemy and adversary who stands against God’s purposes at every turn. This Mars retrograde began in Leo then progressing into the head of Virgo, came back to Leo, depicting the Celestial Sphinx seen in the body of Leo the lion and the head of the woman Virgo, symbolizing Israel’s restoration. The Celestial Sphinx as seen below follows the structure of the Great Sphinx on the Giza Plateau. There is more regarding this subject of the Celestial Sphinx available with our “Dendera Zodiac Poster,” available for order in our Bookstore link seen in the right margin adjacent to this post of our blog page.

In addition to marking the start and close of the celestial canon, the Great Sphinx mirrors the binding of Scripture together from Genesis to Revelation, as seen in the references to Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah in both Gen. 49:8-10 and Rev. 5:5, the first and last books of the Bible. Another indicator of the central importance of these stellar aspects of the Great Sphinx, is that our recognition of the Celestial Sphinx, Virgo and Leo the lion provide the basis for the signs of the triple union of Jupiter-Regulus in Leo, in 3 BC related to Gen. 49:8-10. This is a foundation key linking the Sphinx bothto the celestial witness and God’s Word, in their unified testimony to the Coming Promised Seed.

To continue this sub-theme of Hebrew Jubilee planetary conjunctions of Mars during its retrograde motion, we find added evidence of this during the 1967 Jubilee, in between the Blood Moons on Passover [4-24-67] and Sukkot [10-18-67]. This Mars retrograde formed a loop in Virgo, around her womb area starting March 10th through June 24th. During this loop it approached conjunction with the Alpha Star of Virgo-Spica on June 6th, completing its loop around Virgo’s womb a couple of weeks later. This represents again the conflict surrounding God’s deliverance of Jerusalem from our spiritual adversary, as the city of Jerusalem was wrested from Gentile domination, seen in the rebirth of Jerusalem for Israel. This planetary activity during the previous two Jubilees depicting the restoration of Israel with Mars-Michael is a fascinating lead-up to the to 2017 Jubilee, when Jupiter the king planet and Holy Sceptre, will do a retrograde loop in Virgo’s womb area, symbolizing the birth of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, emphasized here with the Mars-Spica conjunction.

Figure B. The Celestial Sphinx. 5

As we view the celestial context of this first union of Jupiter and Regulus, [Fig. B] marking the birth of Christ, we can see the head of Virgo rising above the eastern horizon just below the full body of Leo the Lion on the ecliptic. This is the view of what an observer standing near Palestine facing east would have seen on this date, providing a clear aspect of the astronomical symbolism of the Sphinx as an important marker and monumental prediction of Jesus‘ birthday on September 11th, a prophecy of the birth of Christ preserved in stone from antiquity! This serves as a monolithic marker to the prophecy provided in Rev. 12:1-5, in the constellation Virgo, further establishing this truth.

The Head of the Woman and the Body of the Lion as seen on Sept. 14th, 3 BC, on the eastern horizon from Palestine, the Celestial Sphinx, and marking the first Jupiter-Regulus Conjunction in Leo, 3 days after the birth of Christ on Sept. 11th 3 BC, [Tishri 1]; Rosh Hashanah. We find these landmarks at the head and tail of the zodiac, which adds light to “the woman Virgo is the crown for all twelve signs. The head position of Virgo is located within the last 10 degrees of Leo.” Virgo’s head is seen in Fig. B, just below and adjacent to the star Denebola in the tail of the Lion, unifying the circle of the zodiac. The Sphinx also unifies the Biblical canon, establishing the chronological order of God’s written revelation, in the Bible’s earliest book of Job 19:23-25.

Footnotes

1. www.1260-1290-days-bible-prophecy.org [www.360 calendar .com]

2. See more at: http://destination-yisrael.biblesearchers.com/destination-yisrael/2012/12/rabbi-judah-ben-samuels-jubilee-prophecy-gives-the-year-of-the-messiah.html#sthash.KkE3oERL.dpuf

3. September2021.com [Phil Richardson] Picture credit

4. Israel Today Magazine, Ludwig Schneider [March 2008] http://issuu.com/ryaninzion/docs/israel_today_march_2008

5. Try-god.com/the great sphinx

http://jardalkalataol.blogspot.com/2015/09/feast-dates-and-second-coming-and.html

Http://www.lmci.org/pdfs/episkoposmar2012.pdf

Biblical Astronomy of the Mercury Transit on May 9th, 2016

Biblical Astronomy of the Mercury Transit on May 9th, 2016.

The following excerpt from our March Blog post on the Purim Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on March 23rd, 2016; provides an important basis upon which to begin this post.

“The key heavenly signs in March of 2016 began with a Total Solar Eclipse on March 9th. This March 9th New Moon/Total Solar Eclipse, actually aligned March 9th-with Nisan 1, followed only 2 weeks later by a Nisan 14 Passover Lunar Eclipse on March 23rd!”1 These celestial alignments were based on the Barley harvest in Israel that was not only verified as ripe, but also in plentiful enough supply from multiple accredited sources not to add the extra 13th month of Adar 2 to the Hebrew Calendar in 2016/5776. This gives us a Lunar Eclipse Sextet from 2014-2016, falling on key Hebrew Feast days of Nisan 1, Passover, Rosh Hashana and the Feast of Tabernacles over a 3 year period. In this special year 5776 on the Hebrew Calendar, the 50-year Jubilee is being celebrated. With this in mind we should pay close attention to the 50 days that Israel counts between Passover and Pentecost. It is during this period just prior to Pentecost that the Transit of Mercury, takes place on May 9th 2016.

This Mercury Transit will be seen in the Solar sight line between Aries and the Pleiades of Taurus. The planet Mercury has the fastest orbit around the Sun of all planets in our Solar System-only 88 days. This translates into a Mercury alignment between the Earth and Sun on at least 3 occasions annually. However, Mercury’s orbit rarely leads to a direct alignment, taking place an average of twice every 10 years, and only during the months of November or May. Norton’s Star Atlas tells us concerning Mercury Transits; “the November variety is more common, repeating at intervals of 7, 13 and 46 years. May transits recur at intervals of 13 and 46 years. In the 21st century a Mercury Transit took place on May 7, 2003, followed by another Mercury Transit on Wednesday, Nov 8th, 2006.”2 Below is a NASA video of Mercury transiting across the face of the Sun. “This transit began at 2:12 pm EST (11:12 am PST) lasting for almost five hours. Good views of this transit were available all along the Pacific Rim:”3

What did it look like? A picture is worth a thousand words:

Image credit: Larry Koehn. Click to view the Sun’s full disk.

During the transit, Mercury’s tiny disk—jet black and perfectly round—glided slowly across the face of the Sun. Only a speck of the Sun’s surface is actually covered, so as with all Mercury Transits the Sun remains as dangerous as ever to look at. But with a proper filter and a little imagination, Transits of Mercury can be a marvelous experience. The next one after the upcoming May 9, 2016 transit; will be on November 11, 2019.”4 The length of the line traversed by the planet in its passage across the Sun’s disk determines the duration of a transit, which can last for up to 9 hours, as seen in the graphic below pertaining to this 2006 event 10 years ago.

If its orbit were exactly in the plane of the ecliptic, Mercury would transit the Sun once in each Synodic revolution. But since its orbit is inclined 7 degrees to the ecliptic, the planet usually passes above or below the Sun as seen from the Earth. A transit occurs only when Mercury is near one of its nodes at inferior conjunction. The ascending node relates to the position of the Earth on November 10, the descending node to the position on May 8. If inferior conjunction falls near one of these dates, Mercury will be seen as a tiny black spot, 10 – 12 arc–seconds wide, moving slowly across the face of the Sun.”5

There is an interesting correlation between the March 23rd/Nisan 14 Passover Penumbral Lunar Eclipse and the May 9th Mercury Transit between Aries and the Pleiades of Taurus, because in Biblical Astronomy, Aries
reflects the ultimate and perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Passover, one of the Christ’s 7 Ministry Titles that we noted in our previous April blog post. Aries’ Alpha star [Al Nath] the brightest of its 66 main stars, means the wounded or slain one. Although the 5th consecutive Lunar eclipse on a Hebrew Holy day from 2014-2016, on Nisan 14 is not a Blood Moon, it links to the day the priests of Israel selected the Passover Lamb. Thus we find another element of the OT Law fulfilled by Christ in this pivotal 1-time sacrifice for all mankind. As the Feast of Unleavened Bread follows Passover we can see Jesus Christ-as the Firstborn in heaven not only resulting from his resurrection, but also in his Gathering of the spiritual body of his Church of resurrected believers out of the Age of Grace, [Ps. 2:6-8, I Cor. 15:20-23].6 We also find this reference to this Pleiades symbolism below.

The renowned cluster of stars called the Pleiades. according to Bullinger means the congregation of the judge or ruler. In the Septuagint the translation of the Hebrew כִּימָה, Chima, meaning the heap or accumulation, as in [Job 9:9; 38:31, 32,] and Amos 5:8. It consists of a cluster of stars (in the neck of Taurus) appearing near together. The brightest of them, marked η in all the maps,59 has come down to us with an Arabic name—Al Cyone, which means the centre. The Syriac name for the Pleiades is Succoth, meaning booths.”7 This provides a very interesting relation to the Feast of Tabernacles that includes the Day of Atonement, where Christ the High Priest is Tabernacled as the ruler among the gathering of his congregation, as the only true mediator between God and man. During this time of the Blood Moon Tetrad we can see other related Mercury sky signs, for example in April 2015 which saw the Passover Blood Moon and Nova Sagittarii, we noted a conjunction of Mercury and Mars in Aries on the 22nd. In addition to this there was an alignment of Mercury with the Pleiades on June 20th in 2015. These 2015 Mercury signs provide an interesting context to the Mercury Transit of 2016, as the Arch-Angel Gabriel, heralds the sky signs leading to Christ’s return.

As these sky signs of 2016 including the Lunar Eclipse Sextet of 2014-2016 and the May 9th, Mercury Transit set the stage for a replay of the birth signs of Jesus Christ from Rev.12 in September of 2017, we can see other activities of Mercury during this period. We should keep in mind that the replay of these birth signs of Christ in 2017 including Jupiter the King Planet and Royal Sceptre being birthed in Virgo on 9/9/17, after spending a “gestation period” in retrograde motion in Virgo’s mid-section. This is interesting when we consider the retrograde motion of Mercury leading to this, because in Sept. 2015 during the culmination of the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015, we saw the [Sun clothing Virgo with the Moon at her feet] on Sept. 17th 2015, along with the Sept. 17th [Mercury-Spica union in Virgo]. This occurs 2 years prior to the Sept. 2017 replay of the birth signs of Christ which will be followed by the Sept. 30th, 2017, lowest point retrograde motion of Mercury in Virgo. On 10/29/15 Mercury was also birthed in Virgo after a gestation period of nearly six weeks. This shows many ways in which the Archangel Mercury-Gabriel is announcing the the victorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ as seen in Rev. 19 below.

Rev. 19:1-21

19 After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God: ²for true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of his ^[a]servants at her hand.

³And a second time they ^[b]say, Hallelujah. And her smoke goes up^[c]for ever and ever. ⁴And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God that sits on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah. ⁵And a voice came forth from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all ye his ^[d]servants, ye that fear him, the small and the great.

This awesome audible Voice from Heaven announces the Lord Jesus Christ returning WITH his Saints to destroy the beast, false prophet and those who will follow them at the battle of Armageddon. This opens the Age of Christ with the destruction of the Anti-Christ and his kingdom.

¹¹And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon ^[g]called Faithful and True; and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. ¹²And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems; and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself. ¹³And he is arrayed in a garment ^[h]sprinkled with blood: and his name is called The Word of God. ¹⁴And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. ¹⁵And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the ^[i]winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty. ¹⁶And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

¹⁷And I saw ^[j]an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come and be gathered together unto the great supper of God; ¹⁸that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of ^[k]captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great.

This Mercury Transit has been likened to verse 17 since the planet Mercury symbolizes the Messenger Archangel Gabriel. The transit of Mercury crossing the face of the Sun is seen as this angel Gabriel “standing in the Sun” heralding the victorious return of the Light of the World and King of Kings, even as he announced the coming Promised Seed of Mary leading to his birth, [Lk. 1:26-38, Matt. 1:20-25]. This alignment of sky signs including the Lunar Eclipse Sextet from 2014-2016 in the Jubilee Year of 5776 may signal a window for the Savior to return FOR his Saints that bookends the first appearance and return of the King of Kings at the right hand of God.

¹⁹And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army. ²⁰And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that ^[l]worshipped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone: ²¹and the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

As we keep a watch on the activities of Mercury-Gabriel this year, we will have plenty of celestial pointers to keep us aware of the Victorious Return of Christ.

Footnotes

1. Purim Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on March 23rd, 2016 [Blog.try-god.org] March 2016 archive
2. Norton’s Star Atlas, Arthur P. Norton
3. science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/20oct_transitofmercury/
4. IBID
5. Norton’s Star Atlas, Arthur P. Norton
6. Seminar on the Lord Jesus Christ, Jon Nessle
7. Witness of the Stars, E.W. Bullinger
8. Passover Blood Moon and Nova Sagittarii [Blog.try-god.org] April 2015 archive
9. Revelation 19, KJV

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Christ’s 7 Ministry Titles and the Third Temple Prophecies

Christ’s 7 Ministry Titles and the Third Temple Prophecies

In our last blog post of March 2016, we noted the confusion in Israel concerning their calendar. Adherents to the traditional Rabbinical Calendar have added the 13th month of Adar 2, which celebrates Passover in April this month, while Biblical adherents of the Abib Barley found in Israel celebrated Passover last month on 3/23/16 coinciding with the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse. We also noted the significance of this Lunar Eclipse following in line with the Blood Moon Tetrad of 2014-2015, and how adherence to the Biblical Calendar dictates related to Abib Barley, provide four more Solar and Lunar Eclipses on Hebrew Feast and Holy days in 2016 added to the already eye-popping Blood Moon Tetrad documented over the last 2 years in this Blog. The structure of the O.T. Hebrew Calendar contains 3 sacred feasts, all of which commemorate the celebration of a note-worthy harvest. The first harvest was celebrated in Nisan during the Feast of Unleavened Bread when the Hebrews brought a sheaf of barley for the wave offering of the first-fruits of the barley harvest. This was the first day that Israel began counting toward Pentecost. The second harvest celebration was the wheat harvest at the Feast of Harvest, Pentecost fifty days hence.

The third harvest celebration was designated as the Feast of Tabernacles in the middle of the seventh month. This final harvest, including the harvest of grapes, was at the end of the agricultural year, before winter. Not only did these three major feasts celebrate the three times of harvest, they also celebrated three great events in the history of Israel. The first, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, celebrated the Exodus of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. The second, Pentecost was traditionally believed by Hebrews to mark the time when God first revealed the Law to Israel at Mount Sinai. The third feast, the Feast of Tabernacles was a seven-day feast commemorating God’s watchful care over Israel as they wandered in the wilderness forty years.¹ [Levi. 23]

This period of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness showed not only God’s care for His chosen people during that time, but also God’s righteous judgment on Israel for their stiff-necked defiance. Each of these feasts also depicts a future event in Bible prophecy related to how these feasts are fulfilled in the ministry of Christ as Prophet, Priest and King. The feast of Unleavened Bread shows the resurrection of Christ as the first-fruits from the dead [I Cor. 15:20-23]. The wheat harvest of the Feast of Pentecost illustrates the giving of the gift of holy spirit on the Day of Pentecost, when the apostles first spoke in tongues. The Feast of Tabernacles shows the resurrection of the just and unjust, as the harvest at the end of he world.²

We also noted in our March 2016 Blog posts, how the Rabbinical Calendar still keyed the Purim Feast with the March 23rd Penumbral Lunar Eclipse, even though the other feast days of the Jubilee year of 5776/2016 do not align with these eclipses. Our summary on the comparison of the Solar and Lunar Eclipses in 2016 with those Solar and Lunar signs marking the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by the Romans in 70 AD, opened our eyes to the expectations of the coming Third Temple in Jerusalem prophesied by Daniel [9:27] and by the Apostle Paul [2 Thess. 2:3-4]. With the 2 previous Blood Moon Tetrads marking the reformation of the state of Israel in 1949-50 and the reclamation of Jerusalem by Israel in 1967-68, we can see God’s prophesied restoration of Israel which will yield the Third Temple in Jerusalem as the next logical step in this process. I have always been curious as to the means whereby Paul tells us the “man of lawlessness” will desecrate this Third Temple by declaring himself God. It helps to understand how this deception could occur if we view the import of the feasts of the Hebrew Calendar in light of the ministries of Jesus Christ, since the Anti-Christ will present a counterfeit of Christ who halts the Third Temple Sacrifices in the middle of the Tribulation period. [Dan. 9:27]

If we look at the period of Christ’s Ministry on Earth during his first Advent, we must first realize that the length of his ministry could not be three years because he had to fulfill every jot and tittle of the OT Law or else he could not have redeemed mankind, and we would still be un-saved. According to [Ex. 12:5] Jesus as the embodiment of the Passover Lamb [Jn. 1:29, 36] had to be “a lamb of the first year without spot or blemish,” so his ministry could not exceed 2 years at the maximum. The following chart from Jon Nessle’s Seminar on The Lord Jesus Christ, discloses the seven phases of Christ’s Ministry and their relation to the length of his ministry-just over a year. We have also added the correspondence of these seven phases of Christ’s ministry on earth to the Lord’s Feasts on the Hebrew Calendar.

The Seven Phases of Christ’s Ministry

Christ Titles Length Ministry Events-Dates
Jesus Christ-Righteous 40 days Baptism-Temptation

Jesus Christ-Evangelist 3 months Ministry Inception

Jesus Christ-Apostle 3 months Pentecost-Tishri 10

Jesus Christ-High Priest 6 months Tishri 10-Nisan 10

Jesus Christ our Passover 7 days Nisan 10-Resurrection

Jesus Christ-Firstborn 40 days Resurrection-Ascension

Jesus Christ-Ascended One 10 days Ascension-Pentecost

The events above illustrate the opening of the Christ Administration and capping off the OT Law with the Ministry of John the Baptist. In [Matt. 3:17] The Voice of God in an audible “mandate from heaven” identified Jesus as “His Beloved Son in whom He is well pleased.” This opened the ministry phase of Christ the Righteous at his baptism marking the next 40 days of his temptation. During the second phase of Christ’s ministry as the Evangelist, he calls the 12 Apostles and cleanses the Temple at Passover. John 4:1 tells us the “Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John” also applies to this second phase of his ministry.3 Christ the Apostle is seen in the Sivan 13th Sabbath when he proclaimed the “acceptable year of the Lord” [Isa. 61:1-2, Lk. 4:17-21]. Notice that this year is in the singular, meaning the entire length of his ministry not exceeding 2 years, is verified by Christ and Isaiah. Jesus Christ the High Priest is seen starting with Tishri 1 where he turns 30 years of age, becoming eligible for the Priesthood for the first time, prior to the Feast of Tabernacles. In this phase of his ministry Jesus began teaching his disciples about his coming sufferings and death, laying down his life as both the High Priest and the perfect Sacrifice. This phase was also marked by an audible mandate from heaven at the Mount of Transfiguration [Matt. 17:1-8]. Jesus Christ our Passover is seen in his 2 entries into Jerusalem, the 2nd of which marked the day that the Passover Lamb was selected by the priests of Israel, [Lk. 19:29-48]. The Apostle Paul also refers to these aspects of Christ’s ministry phases as the Passover [I Cor. 5:7], and as the first-born from the dead once Christ is Resurrected, [Col. 1:18]. With the Ascension of Christ leading to the Day of Pentecost, we witness the birthday of the Church of the body of Christ. This opens the Age of Grace in the book of Acts, with sounds from Heaven; [Acts 2:4] and the Apostle Peter’s sermon,
saving over 3000 new believers in their spiritual rebirth. Herein we still reside today, as we can see the end of the Age of Grace that will climax with the Return of Christ FOR his Saints [I Thess. 4:13-18].⁴

We can see how the Lord’s Feasts are all highlighted with major events and transitions in the 7 phases of Christ’s ministries, and we expect to see this pattern established as the Age of Grace is concluded with more Heavenly Voices and Sounds when Christ returns FOR his Saints, [I Thess. 4:16], opening the way for a Third Temple. These are the same Feasts of the Lord that have been highlighted by the Blood Moon Tetrads since Christ’s Ascension, culminating in the 2014-15 Blood Moon Tetrad. As we re-visit the context of the Solar and Lunar Eclipses of 2016, following on the heels of the Super Blood Moon of 9/28/15, on the Feast of Tabernacles, we note these very unique elements demanding our full attention on this Blood Moon with its following 8 aspects:

A. A Full Moon
B. A Super Moon
C. A Total Lunar Eclipse
D. Visible over Israel
E. At Feast of Tabernacles
F. At the end of Shemita Cycle
G. The last of the 2014-2015 Blood Moon Tetrad
H. 7 days after the opening of the Jubilee Year

This Feast of Sukkot fell on the 15th day of the most sacred 7th month-Tishri, following Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, as the last of 3 required assemblies of men before the LORD; Passover, Pentecost, & Sukkot. Each Feast has required offerings; with Palms waived at Passover, Bread at Pentecost, and Lulavs or palm branches at Sukkot. It follows that, as Passover precedes Pentecost by fifty days (7×7+1), so the Jubilee followed this pattern in fifty years. [Levi. 25:8] relates the “seven Sabbaths of years” and the 50th year of the Jubilee, which fell on the Day of Atonement, or the tenth day of the holiest seventh month of Tishri. In the same way that liberty was proclaimed in the Jubilee, throughout all the land to all its inhabitants [Levi. 25:10], so Jesus set at liberty them that were bruised, while proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord at the opening of his ministry as an Apostle. This is interesting when we observe that there are 30 Jubilees that bring us from the Exodus to the opening of Christ’s ministry, when opening the scroll to Isa. 61:2, he certified the “acceptable year of the Lord” in a 7-fold prophecy, (Lk. 4:17-21).⁵ This fits neatly with the truth that in fulfilling the O.T. Law as the embodiment of the Passover lamb of the 1st year [Exod. 12:5), Jesus was in the first year of his manhood according to Hebrew reckoning, starting at thirty years old, on his birthday on Tishri 1 making him eligible for the priesthood. During this specific period of 70 weeks; [Dan. 9:24] decreed by God as the time to fulfill this Messianic redemption in his ministry to Israel, he was crucified, resurrected, and ascended, exploding the myth that his ministry lasted till he was thirty-three. This removes any supposed relation to the 32-33 AD Blood Moon Tetrad, put forward by some. Since Jesus was crucified 4 years earlier in the year 28 AD, there is no direct link between these aspects of Christ’s ministry and this 1st Blood Moon Tetrad following his sacrifice.

This Super Blood Moon fell on the Tabernacles Feast also activating a Week of Rejoicing, a 7-Day feast with the 8th Day as a corporate Assembly with Torah readings, known as the Hakhel; meaning “to assemble.” This festival at the start of the 8th year (the first of the new seven-year Shemittah cycle), on the second day of the Sukkot Feast, the 16th day of the New Year-marked a holy day where all the people were to gather both now and in the coming Third Temple for an inspirational message. The 8th day of this Solemn Assembly is also called Shemini Atzeret [Num. 29: 35] a Sabbath day distinctly set aside from the annual Sabbath of the Feast of Tabernacles. It is recognized as an “appointed time,” the day following Sukkot when Israel assembles. Attendance was required by all, similar to the gathering of Israel at Mt. Sinai when the Heavenly Father first gave His Holy Scripture-the 10 Commandments to the Man of God Moses to teach the people. [Levi. 23:32]

Historically, the Hakhel assembly was important in bringing Jews & Gentiles together, to assemble before the King of Israel, [Levi. 23:36]. Today there is no earthly King or practicing High Priest in Israel, but when the expected prophetic Third Temple is restored in Jerusalem the opening for someone to fill this void will exist, embodying the High Priest to lead these proceedings on a coming Feast of Tabernacles. This Super Blood Moon foreshadows the return of the actual High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ who will gather the spiritual bodyof his Churchtaking them to heaven. It can also mark the “man of sin” who will reveal himself, resulting from the removal of the obstaclethat prevents him from doing so now, the spiritual lightembodied in the membersof the Church of the Body of Christ currently on Earth, [2 Thess. 2:1-12]. It is key to realize that the Man of sin will counterfeit the officeof the High Priest in a Third Temple based on OT standards of the Law, that relates to the lack of the Jews recognition of Jesus as their Messiah, the Mystery that has blinded Israel for centuries. [Rom. 9:29-33, 11:7-10, 25-33]

The Hakhel festival during Tishri, and the Super Blood Moon of Sept. 2015 that also opened the 50-year Hebrew Jubilee on their calendar provides a very unique celestial configuration, the climax of the 2014-15 Blood Moon Tetrad, foreshadowing Jesus the King as he prepares to lead the corporate Church to the Heavenly assembly on Mount Zion to, and to reward the believers for their faithful works on earth at the Bema Seatof Christ. As judgment begins in the House of God, so the spiritual down-payment [Eph. 1:10-14, 4:30] that the believers shared in the New Birth, will be paid in full at the Bema, after the Gathering Together of the Body of Christ. To this august Assembly will he proclaim the Heavenly Shemittah; as a blessing of release to the Body from the slavery of the world, into the eternal freedom and abundance with the Almighty, followed by the release of the curse of the Seal Judgments upon Satan and the world under his thumb at that time. The breaking of the 7 Seals of Judgment by Christ the King, [Rev. 5:1-9] upon the earth’s evil inhabitants-and the Seed of the Serpent, will incur the Shemittah judgments as they befall the Nations under Lucifer and his minions. Once these judgments are complete, Jesus will return WITH his Saints to vanquish evil from the earth, and set up his Millennial Kingdom Reign. This will also be marked with another audible mandate from Heaven, and mighty Hallelujahs as the heavenly order is restored in Christ the Lord, [Rev. 19:1-2].

Christ Titles Hebrew Feast/Holy Days

Jesus Christ-Righteous Nisan 1/Feb. 16 -March 28th, 27 AD [John 1:29-33]

Jesus Christ-Evangelist Calls 12, Nisan/14-21/27 [Jn. 1:35-51]

Jesus Christ-Apostle Sivan 7-6/1/27-Pentecost, Sivan 13/Jesus-Apostle [Lk. 4:17-21]

Jesus Christ-High Priest Tishri 1-9/20/ 27 Tabernacle Feast, [Mk. 9:2-10]

Jesus Christ-Passover Nisan 8-4/22/28, [Mk. 11:1-11] [Jn. 12:28-30].

Jesus Christ-Firstborn Nisan 17-5/1/28 to 6/10/28 [Ps. 2:6-8, I Cor. 15:20-23]

Jesus Christ-Ascended Sivan 8-6/11 to 6/20/28. [Mk. 16:15-19].

The “BEMA” Seat of Rewards in Christ

In two of our recent March Blog posts, we referenced how Christ as the Prince of Peace, unifies the Jews and Gentiles removing the obstacle of the the OT Law between them, as he fulfilled it in the combined seven phases of his ministries above, [Eph. 2:3-6]. The Church birthed in Christ consists of this one ‘New Man,’ both Jew and Gentile. The foreshadowing of the Blood Super Moon is seen during the Feast of Tabernacles 2015, opening the 50-year Jubilee as potential for Christians and Jews to unify in the Messiah. Jesus in the office of the High Priest exceeds the Aaronic High Priest in every sense. More than ever Jesus is our sinless High Priest [Heb. 7:26] for both Jews and Gentiles, in an Everlasting Priesthood [Heb.7:24], in a Heavenly not earthly Temple, not made with hands, [Heb.8:1-5, 9:23-24, 10:9-14]. His Priesthood is of a better Covenant [Heb. 8:6, 10-11, 9:9-14, 10:15-18], and with Better Promises [Heb. 9:15, 26-28, 10:19-23].⁸ As the Messiah fulfilled the requirements of the Law, he ushered in this New and better Covenant with all of its eternal benefits for everyone who comes unto him. He is truly the universal Savior for All Mankind. Those realizing these Messianic realities in Christ, will partake in Christ’s Gathering, and not be deceived by the Anti-Christ, declaring himself God in the coming Third Temple of Jerusalem.

God’s people are no longer dependent upon the sacrifices of bulls and goats by a High Priest that could only enter the presence of God once a year, but would have continual access to the Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, the High Priest after the order of Melchisedek. As we have pointed out in other blog posts, the planet Jupiter, the planet leading the Magi to Jesus was known by the Hebrew name Sedeq, showing the link with the planet Jupiter and Melchisedek. The Jews looked upon the Messiah as the royal offspring of David,” the Sedeq Branch” [Jer. 23:5 Jehovah-Tsidkenu]. Also the word Sedeq is associated with the word Melek (King) that was combined forming Melchisedek, the Righteous King.⁶

Hebrews 7:11

If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

Heb 10:19 -20

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

As the redeemer and High Priest for all mankind, the ministry of Jesus Christ would include not only the restoration of man to the principles that governed the Paradise Administration before the serpent’s temptation of Eve, but much more. Christ’s redeeming work encompasses not only the sins of Adam and Eve, but also the many offenses of man since the fall of Adam. Thus we regain in Christ much more than we lost in Adam’s fall, resulting from his one sin. The death of the first Adam, the death of a sinless man, initiated the ruin of Paradise and the transfer of Adam’s dominion over the earth, to the serpent. Only a similar sacrifice would pay the legal debt of our salvation!

To redeem humanity, Jesus had to come to us, [I John 4:1-3] totally within the category of flesh to redeem those born into the same category, [Heb. 2:16-17, 4:15]. A “God-man” would not be tempted by the world of fleshly things as all humanity [Js. 1:13-15]. If Jesus was not a man of flesh as he called himself in his resurrected body, [Jn. 20:27] then he could not have been the perfect sacrifice required-the death of a sinless man, to redeem all men and we would remain unsaved! This is consummated in the final Paradise Administration/2nd Universe referred to in Revelation 21-22. We find this in the reference to Jesus Christ as the “no more curse” in Rev. 22:3, who healed the curse that was put upon man as a result Adam’s fall in Genesis 3:17.

Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

Praise God for His Abundant Grace and Mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Footnotes

1. Jesus Christ our Passover, VP Wierwille, ppg. 407-408.
2. IBID. chart on p. 409
3. “Sound Out 84-A Harmony of the Gospels” American Christian Press 1984.
4. Seminar on The Lord Jesus Christ, Rev. Jon Nessle
5. IBID, Rev. Jon Nessle
6. Number in Scripture, E.W. Bullinger, p. 4.
7. The Star that Astonished the World, Earnest Martin p. 58
8. Seminar on The Lord Jesus Christ, Rev. Jon Nessle

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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