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Hope of Israel Mail Bag 39

elites sowed or reaped crops during the 40 years they wan- season of the year into another. David and other Old Testa-
dered in the wilderness -- they were supernaturally fed by ment personalities were well aware of its significance.
YEHOVAH God. They could not have used the criterion
of the maturing barley to determine when the new year Now since Passover and the Days of Unleavened
should begin. Even when they arrived in the land of Ca- Bread are spring festivals, and the month (Abib or Nisan)
naan there were Sabbatical years when they didn’t sow or in which they fall is the first month of spring, then the new
reap grain crops -- see Leviticus 25:1-24. Not only that, moon which determines the beginning of the month must
but there can be as much as two months variation in the also fall in the spring or directly after the vernal equinox!
ripeness of barley from one region of Palestine to another. Since the first new moon to fall after the vernal equinox
this year was on April 14, Passover and the Days of Un-
When in the ark Noah was unable to monitor the leavened Bread started on April 27 (after sundown) --
growth of any crops to determine when the new year began which is approximately a month after most groups ob-
(Genesis 8:4, 13-15). With these factors in mind, it is obvi- served it this year.
ous that the state of the barley was NOT a factor in deter-
mining the beginning of the year. Not understanding these principles, most church
groups follow the corrupted Jewish calendar or the Karaite
YEHOVAH God makes it clear in Genesis 1:14 observance of the barley harvest. Still others believe that
that it is the sun and the moon which determine days, the new moon which determines the month of Nisan can
months, festival times (including the weekly Sabbath) and fall directly before the vernal equinox -- causing them to
years. What determines the beginning of the year is the re- observe the Passover season too early this year. For further
lationship between the sun and the moon in spring -- spe- details on this refer to our article, YEHOVAH’s True Cal-
cifically the EQUINOX and the new moon directly after endar for 2002!
the equinox. The vernal (spring) equinox occurred on
March 21 this year, and is the point at which the sun passes Our fax number is (818) 878-9334.
vertically over the equator. It returns to this point at the
time of the autumn equinox on September 23. It is the ***
combination of these factors -- of the time of the spring
equinox and that of the new moon directly after it -- which Dear Sir/Mam:
determine the true beginning of YEHOVAH’s year.
Thank you for your magazine. I am currently in prison
We find reference to the vernal equinox in 2 serving a lengthy sentence. I keep reading about this book
Chronicles: “At the turn [tekufah] of the year...” (2 Chron- “A Woman Rides the Beast” by Dave Hunt. I am very in-
icles 24:23). This same word tekufah is used in Exodus terested to read this book and I was wondering if you
34:22 in reference to the equinox at the time of the autumn would be able to send me a free copy to read. Thank you
Feast of Tabernacles: “Celebrate...the Feast of Ingather- very much for your time.
ing at the turn [tekufah] of the year” (Exodus 34:22). The
word tekufah occurs four times in the Bible and refers to Your truly,
the completion of a cycle -- the cycle of the sun in the sky.
That cycle is from one equinox to another. In referring to S.B. (Canada)
this course of the sun in the sky, David said: “It rises at one
end of the heavens and makes its circuit [tekufah] to the COMMENT: You should have received a copy by now.
other...” (Psalm 19:6). We hope you enjoy it.

The position of the sun in the sky indicates the ***
time of the equinox -- the changing or turning from one
Dear Friends,

The Berean Voice July-August 2002