GUARD the month of Aviyv, and keep the Pecach unto Yahovah your Elohim: for in the month of Aviyv, Yahovah your Elohim brought you forth out of Mitsrayim (that is Egypt) by night. (Deuteronomy 16:1)
as I am publishing this episode, which I believe to be a very important episode for a number of reasons, we happen to be at the 8th day of the 13th Biblical Month. Yes, you heard me correctly: we are in the 13th Month of the Biblical Calendar year; for we’ve entered into an “Adar Bet!” (Chuckles) All kidding aside, this 13th month is something that happens every few years in the confines of the Creator’s reckoning. And let me just say, for those of you who can not endure me talking about the Creator’s Calendar yet again or for whatever reason, I’m sorry to say that, yes, I’m going to be reflecting upon this most contentious of subjects related to our Hebrew Roots Faith. I make no apologies for being a staunch adherent of the Creator’s Calendar. Needless to say it is a huge part of my life. For those of you who too are adherents and fans of the Creator’s Calendar, I’m certain you can identify with my passion and fanatical interest on this, what I consider to be, a key component of our Faith. For we take Torah seriously and Torah defines who we are as disciples of Y’shua Messiah. As bought and paid for servants of Yahovah, we no longer belong to man in any shape, form or fashion. The great apostle Shaul (aka Paul) wrote to the Corinthian Assembly: “For you were bought at a price…do not become slaves of men” (I Corinthians 6:20; 7:23, NET). Thus we are not our own. We are not free to roam and adopt any manner of man-made contrivances put forth with the the expressed purpose of producing a supposed closer relationship with the Creator of the Universe such as the calculated Jewish calendar. Thus, we should not be beholden to the calculated Jewish calendar. Quite frankly, that calendar of Hillel II (established in 359 CE) served its purpose from the 4th century of the common era to the middle of the 20th-century when diaspora Jews were scattered throughout the world and there was no unifying way to communicate the start and end of the calendar year, nor of the dates of the Feasts of the Lord. Once the Jews re-entered and settled the land of Israel in 1948, becoming a nation on May 14th, the calculated Jewish calendar should have been ceremoniously discarded and the Creator’s Calendar re-instituted and re-enacted by the rabbis. That of course did not happen. And here we find ourselves today, some 68-years later, where the world’s practicing Jewish population and many in the Hebrew Roots Faith, are following that same Hillel calendar that frankly is an invention of the pharisaic Sanhedrin and it stands in opposition to Torah. Why has the Jew and most of the Hebrew Rooter community not returned to the Creator’s reckoning of time? Simply put: the calculated Jewish calendar is a calendar of convenience. Because it works and fits in so well with the world’s reckoning of time and the modern-day pagan calendar; and because the Creator requires His people to maintain an obedient trusting relationship with Him, most adherents of either Faith are unwilling to adopt the Father’s primarily faith-based calendar. Simply put: man naturally trusts man more than he trusts the Creator of the Universe. (Psalm 118:8) Just as the test case of the weekly Sabbath separates the true disciples of Y’shua from the nominal believer, I personally believe the Creator’s Calendar is but one more “sifting” mechanism of the “true Faith once delivered.” (Reference: Matthew 13:30—the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares)
In pressing the default button on our Faith, we find that Father gave us specific instructions on how we are to reckon time, based upon the atmospheric, celestial and agricultural conditions existing over the land of Israel at certain times of the Biblical Calendar year. Despite what many in Judaism and Hebrew Roots assert about this issue, the Creator’s Calendar is a calendar of trust, obedience and reliance—all ideal character attributes of a child of Yahovah who keeps the commandments of our God and hold to the testimony of Y’shua (Revelation 12:17)
For the Creator’s Calendar to work as He has defined and illustrated in Torah, it is necessary that we somehow have intimate access to the land of Israel for one, and two, that the environmental, the celestial and the agricultural conditions in existence in the land of Israel be observed in concert with one another, especially when we come to the end and beginning of the Biblical calendar year. Thus a number of things must be at play for us to determine the end and start of a Biblical Calendar year: (1) we must have access to the land of Israel; (2) the barley’s maturity must be determined by competent individuals who understand when a barley crop is aviv and when it is not (that’s the agricultural aspect of this equation); (3) we must be at the 29th or 30th day of the 12th Biblical month (that is the celestial aspect of this equation); and lastly, (4) we must have at a minimum 2-people sight the renewed moon over the land of Israel (the environmental aspect). And it is this end and start of the Biblical Calendar year that I am most interested in addressing for just a brief period longer during this episode.
Last week, as we neared the end of the Biblical Calendar year, crews of well trained and experienced volunteers, combed the land of Israel in search of barley that had reached a state of maturation that the Creator classified or named as Aviv (although some translation go with Abib instead). I won’t go into what criteria barley must meet in order for it to be deemed aviv—for quite frankly, that is certainly not something that I’m at all educated in. But what I do know is that when the barley crop has reached a point of maturation that it is deemed ripe enough for harvest, it is considered aviv. (Reference: Exodus 9:31) The month on the Biblical Calendar when this agricultural occurrence takes place is the latter portion of the 12th month. It was during this very time on the Creator’s Calendar when Father intervened in the affairs of men, revealed Himself to a Hebrew named Moshe (aka Moses), re-established the clock and calendar, and led us out of Egyptian bondage with a mighty hand as He bore us on eagles’ wings and led us unto Himself (Exodus 13:4; 19:4).
So once we’ve recognized that the barley cop is aviv AND we have sighted the renewed moon over the land of Israel—signaling the start of a new month, that we begin to count 14-days to Passover and then the 15th-day of that month begins the 7-days of Unleavened Bread—the first of 7-mandated moedim of Yahovah (Leviticus 23:5-8). For it is these appointed times that Yahovah has ordained and established within His calendar to meet with us and for us to keep and celebrate those appointed times/days before Him (Deuteronomy 16:1-8). I didn’t establish this; Michael Rood didn’t establish this; nor did Arthur Bailey or any other Hebrew Roots teacher establish this method of time keeping. It was Yahovah who established this calendar, despite what many in our community and in our Faith would attempt to convince all of us to disavow. Those individuals who seek to marginalize and bad-mouth those of us who choose to keep the Creator’s reckoning of time, I believe, have agendas that are not consistent with Torah. For we were commanded by Father to “observe the month of Aviv and keep Pesach (i.e., Passover) to Yahovah our God; for in the month of Aviv, Yahovah our God brought us out of Egypt at night” (Deuteronomy 16:1). The term observe, as translated in many of our English Bibles, fails to convey the truest sentiment that the Hebrew text, when properly rendered, does. The term “observe” in the Hebrew text is “shamar” which means “to guard” or “to keep.” Thus, Father has commanded us to keep/to guard the month of Aviv. That being the case, wouldn’t you think that it would behoove us to ensure that we pinpoint with as much accuracy as we possibly can, when the month of Aviv is to occur? Certainly, the calculated Jewish calendar may, from time to time, actually sync up with the barley crop being aviv in the land of Israel as it seems it will do this time around. But from time-to-time, the calculated calendar fails to get it right—and that goes also for the start of many biblical calendar months as well as Feast of Yahovah throughout the Biblical Calendar year. No, we are to keep, to guard, the month of the Aviv: and that means we are to ensure that we are in proper alignment with the criteria the Father established for determining when the calendar year is to begin. That criteria my friends is found in Torah. You see, if we fail to get the start of the Biblical Calendar year right, our reckoning of the remainder of the calendar year will likely be out of sync with the Father’s expressed reckoning of time and His moedim—His appointed times—His festivals and feasts. And quite frankly saints, the very least we can do is fulfill our duty as children of the Most High and that is: to “fear Yahovah and keep his commandments;” and that according to the writer of Ecclesiastes is the fulfillment of “…the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Yet for whatever reason—most likely having to do with the cares of life—we find every excuse to skirt the system—Yah’s Torah–and to do that which is more convenient and pleasing to us. His reckoning of time is NOT rocket science, but oh boy, you ask the average Hebrew Rooter if they keep the Creator’s Calendar and His moedim, you’ll get an array of hims and haws that will make you simply shake your head and walk away in total disappointment and befuddlement. And that even goes for the keeping of the Hebrew Roots test commandment: the keeping of Sabbath. So many of us in our community still have no problem working and doing whatever we so please on the weekly Sabbath. Instead, a huge portion of our community intentionally, in most cases, choose not to keep the day holy and sacred and to honor it as a day of rest and fellowship and good works as our Creator commanded and our Master showed us how to do so. It’s a total disgrace how we’ve come into this Faith and this community, accepting the requirements of Torah living as a prerequisite for living out this Faith, only to see come to fruition that in many cases, literally in just a few months or so, simply abandon the weekly Sabbath and the Feasts of Yahovah because of the cares and pleasures of life.
Saints, it’s time. It’s time for us to Teshuvah. It’s time for us to give everything over to our Creator. It’s time to hit the default button on our Faith. You see, the world around us is slowly crumbling in virtually every aspect of Western and Eastern civilization—and that even includes the world’s great religions. Nothing and nowhere is stable and peaceful and honoring of Yahovah and the way of life that He mapped out for all mankind in His Holy Word. It’s a virtual “soup sandwich” with no escape, unless your Faith is built upon a firm foundation—wholly grounded upon the solid rock which is Y’shua Messiah and Torah living. Otherwise, as that old gospel hymn expressed, all other ground—be it economic; spiritual; political; secular; all these segments of our society are as sinking sand. Edward Mote clear got it, for he wrote:
“My hope is built on nothing less than Y’shua’s blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Y’shua’s Name. For it is On Messiah the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand…all other ground is sinking sand.” (Edward Mote, 1834) And yes, I did insert Y’shua and Messiah into the lyrics in place of Jesus and Christ respectively.
So Mr.and Mrs. Naysayer, whoever you may be, don’t waste your breath trying to explain to me the futileness of following the Creator’s Calendar. Instead, take the time you’d use to bad-mouth those of us who do follow the Creator’s calendar, and seek Yahovah’s will for your life—fasting and praying and seeking His Face and learning what He would have you do in regards to this situation. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is a lifestyle situation that needs to be hashed out between you and your Creator. It is not my job to convince you to adopt the Biblical Calendar. Unless your heart and mind and soul is behind it; unless you’re convicted by the Ruach Hakodesh that it is the right thing for you to follow, you’ll abandon it as quickly as you would have adopted it. Keeping the Creator’s Calendar is a lifestyle and life commitment that brings with it untold blessings as we learn to trust Yahovah and place Him as the sole ruler over our lives. That other calendar is simply a license for man to have sole ruler-ship over every person who chooses to adopt it.
So quickly getting back to the matter at hand: the barley was NOT found to be Aviv in the land of Israel last week and not being Aviv means that we must allow the barley time to reach Aviv maturation. Thus, we allot for an additional month—an additional 29 or 30-days for the barley to become Aviv. I’ve not been able to find in the Bible where we are instructed to tag on a 13th month when the barley is found to NOT be in an Aviv state at the end of the 12th biblical calendar month. The bible’s silence on this practice certainly troubled me for a brief time as I searched throughout the holy writ, especially in Torah, for Yahovah’s instructions on Adar Bets. But I finally determined that Torah doesn’t need to stipulate the practice of implementing an Adar Bet if the barley is not found to be Aviv. It’s one of those commonsense rules and teachings that we often fail to see because we want Father to instruct us to the gnat’s behind on every commandment that He’s given us: How am I supposed to keep the Sabbath; what can and can I not do on the Sabbath and on the Feast Days; under what conditions can or can I not work on the Sabbath and the high holy days; do I really have to give up eating bacon; is it okay to marry a 4th time; can I shack up with a member of the opposite sex whom I’m not married to; etc., etc., etc. And the fact of the matter is that we are generally NOT stupid beings. We generally know right from wrong; what’s sinful and not; even what of Yahovah’s Torah we’re going to obey and what we’re not. We know before we go before Yahovah on any given subject whether or not we will subject ourselves to His commandment on that issue. More times than not, we’ll rationalize within ourselves reasons why it is okay for us to violate Torah, especially if keeping the commandment(s) in question will to some greater or lesser degree personally inconvenience us or cause some level of stress in our day-to-day lives. In this particular case, we do not require Yahovah to expound for us what we must do if the barely is found not to be Aviv in the land of Israel at the end of the 12-Biblical Month. And the reason why Yahovah shouldn’t have to explain to us what to do when the barley is NOT aviv is that He gave us instructions in Torah as to what we were to do with the aviv barley in the first month of His calendar year. Consequently, it was a commandment that could only be carried out if the barely was aviv. So commonsense would necessitate that we somehow make provisions for the barley to reach aviv maturation so that we could follow-through on Yahovah’s commandments related to the aviv barley in the land. That commandment and ritual has tremendous—powerful—spiritual relevance associated with it that millions on this planet have completely missed or simply have not had their eyes opened to these amazing truths. It is that ritual and commandment, along with its spiritual relevance that we’ll reflect upon in one of future episodes of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections.