God's Festivals: The Biblical Holy Days

Introduction  (continued)

 

 

Only a supreme all-knowing God could foresee precise events thousands of years before they occur, and design the holy days to the very day to prove His omnipotence!  That is to say, not only does God know the events that will come, but He knows to the very day.  Not just one event, but the whole of the end-time calendar of Biblical feast days which align to future holy days on our modern calendar.

 

To create uniformity for the Jews dispersed worldwide (the "Diaspora"), the modern Jewish calendar was designed by integrating both lunar and solar cycles.  The months made up of mostly 29 and 30 day periods total 354 days, which leaves the year eleven-and-one-fourth days short of the true solar year of 365.25 days.  This is corrected by adding a "leap month," known as Ve-Adar, seven times during a nineteen year cycle.  This procedure also maintains the holy days in their correct seasons, following the Biblical pattern. 

 

 

THE BIBLICAL CALENDAR

 

JEWISH MONTH                                                    CORRESPONDING MONTH

 

Order        Name    

1.              Nisan, or Abid                                                March-April

2.              Zif, or Iyar                                                      April-May

3.              Sivan                                                             May-June

4.              Tammuz                                                        June-July

5.              Ab, or Av                                                       July-August

6.              Elul                                                               August-September

7.              Tishri                                                            September-October

8.              Bul                                                               October-November

9.              Chisleu                                                         November-December   

10.            Tebeth                                                          December-January

11.            Sebat                                                           January-February

12.            Adar                                                             February-March

                 Ve-Adar (the Intercalary Month--leap years)      

 

  

 

Unlike national holidays of our day, God's Festival observances fall on different days each year.  There could be as much as a three week variation in dates from one year to the next.  To demonstrate this movement of dates, click here for a schedule of the major Jewish holidays from 2011 to 2015.

 

 

RECOMMENDED READING:

The late Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi is an Italo-American scholar who studied and lived in several countries. He was born and brought up in Rome, Italy, a stone-throw from the Vatican wall. For his college education he went to England where he earned a B. A. degree in Theology at Newbold College. From England he came to America for his graduate studies and earned a M. A. and a B. D. degrees at Andrews University Theological Seminary. His book, God's Festivals in Scripture and History, focuses on the future fulfillment of the fall festivals at the coming of Christ, particularly noting his belief that the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) represents the future appointed time when Christ will begin to rule--the Day of the Lord.