The New Moon · 5/1/2019 · The New Moon’s Significance 10 Lunar Cycle Full Moon Waning crescent Conjunction New waxing crescent We will be comparing themes that form a particular

The New Moon’s SignificanceThe New Moon Series Part 1

ש ד ח

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Settling the

Debate:

New waning crescent

The New Moon’s Significance

ConjunctionNew

crescentNew

crescent

Conjunction

No!It’s

This debate will be settled by using thematic analysis, and we will discover that:

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ConjunctionNew

waning crescent


vs.

Represents hiddenness and death = It’s the last day of the month.

Represents birth, resurrection, something renewed = It’s the first day of the month.

Depending on how you look at this photo, you can see the patterns of colors in different ways depending on which colors stand out to you.

Scripture has patterns in it that we can see if we shift our focus.

Instead of colors, we will look at themes that form a thematic pattern.

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In this photo, we may choose to only look at the white portions of this pattern. The other colors are there, but they are NOT part of the pattern.

In the same way, we may choose to look at themes that form a certain pattern. There may be other themes that are present in a historical account that are NOT part of the pattern; they are comparable to the non-white portion of this photo.

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The New Moon’s SignificanceIf you look around, you can see that God has created things that are pattern-based. Some examples include:

• Seasons of the year

• Seasons of life

• Life events

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These life events may actually be thematic patterns that we’ve actually seen in Scripture.

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The Baker and the Cup Bearer

Jonah

Yeshua in ministry

David and Jonathan

The Lawless One

New Heavenand EarthEvents in

Revelation

Hiddenness

The Restrainer

Yeshua’s Return


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Lunar Cycle

Full Moon

Waning crescent

Conjunction

New waxing crescent

We will be comparing themes that form a particular pattern.

This thematic pattern (1st column of our charts) will be repeated in several Biblical passages.

You need to focus on these themes.


Duality - Similar or opposites themes happening in a single step.

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Opposition to these themes may occur; this is normal.

Example:Birth vs. Death

Hidden vs. RevealedPossess vs. Dispossess

Fall vs. Rise

Example: One lives, another dies.

OR

Someone is hidden while another dies.


Key Verse For YHVH’s Calendar:

Genesis 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs(otot) and seasons (moedim; appointed times), and for days (yamim) and years (shanim)…”

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• The moon is not just “for” seasons/appointed times (moedim) and general time; it also represents the seasons of various kinds of life cycles.

• We can see the significance of these life cycles, if we take the time to discover them through thematic analysis.

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• Four phases: New moon (conjunction), 1st quarter, full moon, 3rd quarter.

• Eight phases: New moon (conjunction), waxing crescent, 1st quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, 3rd quarter, waning crescent.

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The moon is often described as having either 4 or 8 phases:


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Lunar Cycle

Full Moon

Waning crescent

Conjunction

New waxing crescent

For our purposes, I am creating a hybrid of the previous phases.

“Full Moon” includes the 1st

quarter > waxing gibbous > full Moon > waning gibbous > 3rd

quarter all together as a “time of life.”


Lunar Cycle Seasons Deciduous Trees HumanLife Cycle

Full Moon Summer Leaves are green Child >> Adult

Waning crescent

Autumn(Fall)

Leaves change color and fall

Elderly adult; health declines

Conjunction Winter Dormancy; about 3 months

Baby’s hiddenness during pregnancy; death, burial.

New waxing crescent

Spring Leaves bud with new life

Newborn baby;resurrection.

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• Now that we have seen the thematic pattern that nature has revealed to us, let’s look at Scripture.

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Lunar Cycle Baker & Cup Bearer (Genesis 40:1-22)

Full Moon Baker and cup bearer served Pharaoh

Waning crescent

Eventually, something happened that caused them to fall out of favor with Pharaoh.

Conjunction They were imprisoned (picture of hiddenness) with Joseph. The baker and cup bearer each had dreams that symbolized 3 days. After 3 days, the baker died and…

New waxing crescent

the cup bearer was given new life. He returned to serve at Pharaoh’s side.

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Lunar Cycle David (1 Samuel 20)

Full Moon David’s early life and service to King Saul

Waning crescent

David suspects he has fallen out of favor with King Saul.

David believes King Saul wants to kill him.

Conjunction A 3-day test to hide in the field was arranged between

Jonathan and David before the new moon. Saul tried to kill

Jonathan with a spear (1 Samuel 20:33). Jonathan sent David

away. David was hiding from King Saul until after the death of

Saul and Jonathan.

New waxing crescent

David becomes King of Judah.

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At first, we may think there is significance to the conjunction taking place around the time of the new moon, but there’s not.

It’s comparable to a non-white color in our pattern. We’ll see why shortly.

Instead, the themes of hiddenness anddeath are the proper themes associated with conjunction.

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Lunar Cycle Jonah

Full Moon Jonah was enjoying life until…

Waning crescent

The Ninevites fell out of favor with YHVH. YHVH told Jonah to

go to Nineveh and cry out against it, but Jonah arose to flee

to Tarshish.

Conjunction He paid the fare for a boat and went down into it. During a

storm, he was thrown overboard by the others. He was

hidden in the belly of a great fish for 3 days and nights. He

described his death in the sea in a prayer to YHVH.

New waxing crescent

After YHVH spoke to the fish, it vomited Jonah out alive onto

the dry land. He later preached to the Ninevites.21


Lunar Cycle Yeshua

Full Moon Yeshua grew up and began ministry around the age of 30 as the Light of World and Son of God.

Waning crescent

At some point, Yeshua did not have the favor of the religious leaders. This is the beginning of the ending of Yeshua’s life.

Conjunction Yeshua, the Passover Lamb, was arrested and crucified near the time of a full moon. His body was pierced with a spear. He was taken down & buried (hidden in a tomb) for 3 days/nights.

New waxing crescent

Yeshua was born.Yeshua resurrected as firstfruits from the dead. 22


• Luke 23:44-46

• Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 46 And when Jesus (Yeshua) had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.'" Having said this, He breathed His last.

• Again, death and dying is what conjunction represents, but again, Yeshua’s death is taking place about the time of the full moon which is the opposite of conjunction. Yeshua’s life is being taken from Him.

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As we saw earlier, David and Jonathan’s 3-day test of being hidden in the field included the time of the new moon.

Yeshua’s death took place during a time of darkness on Nisan 14th just before the complete full moon on Nisan 15th. He was hidden in the tomb during the next 3 days/nights.

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Since these moon phases are completely opposite, we can’t reach the conclusion ofwhat the new moon is during conjunction because the moon phase is not mentioned in another parallel such as Jonah.

Remember, opposition is okay, and it is not unusual in some patterns, but it’s not part of our themes that are present in that rowof all of our pattern parallels.

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Our focus is NOT to be on the dates and actual moon phases at that time of these parallels; it’s to be on the PICTURE of hiddenness or death as seen in our parallels.

The theme for conjunction is hiddenness because that’s what the moon does around conjunction.

The time of the moon’s hiddenness that is around the exact time of conjunction is about 3 days. 26


Because the steps of a pattern can contain multiple and/or opposite themes, we must use caution when interpreting thematic patterns.

To properly identify the themes and see their significance, it’s best to have 3 or more repeated pattern parallels to compare and contrast.

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Lunar Cycle

Full Moon

Waning crescent

Conjunction

New waxing crescent

Recall that we were talking about how Yeshua compared to our pattern or cycle of life.


• Yeshua was likely buried on Wednesday just before sunset. He was in the grave for 3 nights and 3 days (comparable darkness associated with conjunction).

• He was likely resurrected on Saturday once the sun set and once the Day of Firstfruits officially began (comparable to new waxing crescent).

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• It is important to note that there was still a period of the dark night hours between Yeshua’s resurrection and before the women discovered the tomb empty after sunrise and before Yeshua revealed Himself to His disciples on Sunday morning. We will see how that applies later.

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• When we compare this thematic process to the phase of conjunction, we see that the waning of the moon leads up to the extremely brief moment in time which is called conjunction.

• This moment of conjunction quickly ends, and the new waxing phase of the moon begins, although it may still appear dark to the naked eye.

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• Now let’s seen how this thematic pattern repeats itself in 2 more parallels.

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Lunar Cycle Yeshua – Post Resurrection Lawless One

Full Moon Yeshua showed proof of his life. Lawlessness is fully at work.

Waning crescent

Yeshua ascended from earth.

Previous to that, the Father was well-pleased with Him.

The Restrainer, a form of light, will be removed from earth.

At that point, it is likely YHVH will not be pleased with the nations.

Conjunction Yeshua is now hidden from our sight; He is sitting at right hand of the Father.

The Lawless One (over the kingdom of darkness) will be revealed; time of Tribulation.

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The New Moon’s Significance• In our nature chart, the tree

leaves FELL TO Earth; here there is OPPOSITION.

• Yeshua and the RuachHaKodesh (Restrainer; Holy Spirit) DO NOT FALL OUT OF FAVOR WITH YHVH.

• HOWEVER, THEY MUST LEAVEthe Earth by ascending to heaven.

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• Revelation describes Yeshua’s ascension this way:

• Revelation 12:5

• She (Israel, specifically Miriam [Mary]) bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.

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• 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8

• For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.

• 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

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• Ephesians 6:12

• For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

• It is no different with the lawless one (the Beast) of Revelation; he will be a ruler of darkness.

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• Revelation 16:10

• Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain.

• This, in addition to the rulership of the lawless one, is what conjunction represents.

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• Ezekiel 32:7-8

• When I put out your light,

• I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark;

• I will cover the sun with a cloud,

• And the moon shall not give her light.

• 8 All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you,

• And bring darkness upon your land,'

• Says the Lord God.

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• Joel 2:10

• The earth quakes before them,

• The heavens tremble;

• The sun and moon grow dark,

• And the stars diminish their brightness.

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• Matthew 24:29-31

• "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

• This literal darkness is another significance of what the CONJUNCTIONof the moon represents.

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• Isaiah 13:9-10

• Behold, the day of the Lord (YHVH) comes,

• Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,

• To lay the land desolate;

• And He will destroy its sinners from it.

• 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations

• Will not give their light;

• The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine.

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Lunar Cycle Yeshua – Post Resurrection Lawless One

New waxing crescent

Yeshua, the Light of the World, will return at the appointed time, which is unknown. He will be seen coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He will lead the battle against the Lawless One.

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• Matthew 24:30-31

• Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

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• Our holy convocations represent the gathering of the elect.

• Until that day, It is important to find a group of Torah observant believers to gather with for the appointed holy convocations.

• It is also important to be unified in the observance of holy convocations. Those who have joined themselves to YHVH’s covenant should be observing the feasts and having holy convocations within the same 48-hour period.

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• Revelation 1:7

• Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

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• Yeshua, the light of the world, and His coming is a thematic parallel of the NEW CRESCENT MOON.

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• We are now going to shift our focus again.

• This time, we will see how the significance of the moon phases are seen in Revelation after the time of Yeshua’s coming.

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Lunar Cycle Revelation 20-21

New waxing crescent

1st Resurrection

Full Moon Time during the millennial reign of Yeshua.

Waning Crescent

Based on parallels of this pattern, it is likely that Yeshua will fall out of favor with the nations at the end of His millennial reign.

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Waning Crescent(continued)

The dragon (old serpent, Satan, Devil) will be released from the bottomless pit to gather the nations for war against the camp of the saints and the beloved city.

This is the beginning of the end for God’s enemies.

Conjunction God destroys the armies of Gog and Magog with fire when they surround the city. The devil is cast into the lake of fire where the beast and false prophet are.

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New waxing crescent

2nd Resurrection takes place prior to the Great White Throne Judgment.

Full Moon At the Great White Throne Judgment, those whose names are not written in the Book of Life are denied life. (OPPOSITION)

There is weeping and gnashing of teeth in the lake of fire for “olam.”

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Waning crescent

The time remaining for Death and Hades is rapidly declining.

Conjunction Death and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire; this is the second death.

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New waxing crescent

New heaven and new earth come, for the 1st had passed away. All things are made new, including the New Jerusalem.

Full Moon He who overcomes shall inherit all things; he will be God’s son.

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• Revelation 22:5

• There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.

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• To sum up, the new moon represents:

• Birth or rebirth

• Resurrection

• Messiah’s return

• New heaven and earth (including the new Jerusalem)

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• Matthew 24:42

• Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming…

• By the way, that is why it’s okay for you to not know the exact time of visualizing the new moon!

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• Despite historical practice, I’ve not found a single Scriptural reference that says we have to sight the new crescent moon.

• I have seen at least one internet site who used Deuteronomy 16:1 to say we must do this.

• Deuteronomy 16:1 says, "Observe ( רומש ; shamor) the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.”

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• רוש מ (shamor) is the imperative form of ש מר (shamar) which means to watch, keep, observe, preserve, guard, be careful.

• Deuteronomy 16:1 is commanding us to observe and keep the Passover in the month in which spring (aviv) begins.

• To do that, we have to know when the spring equinox is and when to expect the new crescent moon.

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• There is no harm in sighting the new moon; however, that’s easier said than done.

• Still, we still need to “determine” when it is by way of a reliable method.

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• According to Ezekiel 46:1-3, the day of the new moon and the weekly Sabbath will be days when the people of the land will worship at the opened entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces east.

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• Torah does not command us to rest on the day of the new moon; however, additional offerings were required on that day.

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• Even though the Levitical priesthood can’t bring the commanded offerings, it seems that we need to start becoming familiar with the cycle of the new moon, become aware of when it’s taking place, and consider what’s reasonable to do now on the day of the new moon.

• Perhaps reflecting on the significance of the new moon is a good place to start.

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• It can be extremely difficult to sight the new crescent moon each month. The Jews and other ancient Near Eastern nations did not always see it. There were false positive sightings.

• The Jews knew that they could not rely only on sighting the new crescent moon on the 29th and 30th night of the month.

• They had to have rules for when they did not see it on the 29th or 30th

day of the month. Remember, they were not determining the exact time of conjunction like astronomers do today.

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• Since the moon begins to wax shortly after conjunction, we need to know when conjunction is.

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• Prior to completely switching over to the current calculated Hebrew (Hillel II) calendar, the Jewish High Court exerted great control over hearing witnesses, the consecration of the new moon, and informing the people concerning the new moon.

• The Jews felt the calculations merely determined the day that the land of Israel would establish the calendar and thereby, the new moon or festival days. Rambam equates this with Isaiah 2:3 where it is said, “Out of Zion shall come forth the Torah.”

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• I see the “going forth of the Torah from Zion” as referring to YHVH’s commandments, and not specifically referring to the announcing of the new moon.

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• Wouldn’t it be great if our assemblies could all be able to agree when the new moon begins and set times for a holy convocation?

• If that could happen, congregations all over the world could be gathering for holy convocations with each other instead of being divided into splinter groups.

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• Debate between the various sects of the Jews has long taken place over when and under what circumstances to sanctify the new moon. THEREFORE, what we are facing today is nothing new.

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• Today, as Torah observant believers, we have struggled with what and when the new moon is due to lack of knowledge.

• As our knowledge increases, we need to get to a point where everyone world-wide can be celebrating the feasts with their own assemblies or jointly with other assemblies while taking into account day/night and time zone differences.

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• There is a way to overcome all related issues and still be recognizing a new waxing crescent moon.

• We will soon discuss an alternative to sighting the new moon while maintaining a 29 or 30 day month in a future presentation.

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• With this in mind, we need to know when the 1st day of the month begins so that we are celebrating the feasts in their appointed times.

• First, we need to remember the following statements that were made earlier.

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• Yeshua was likely buried on Wednesday just before sunset. He was in the grave for 3 nights and 3 days (which represented conjunction).

• He was likely resurrected on Saturday once the sun went down/once Sunday, the Day of Firstfruits, began (this represented the beginning of the new waxing crescent).

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• There was still a period of the dark night hours before the women discovered the tomb empty after sunrise and before Yeshua revealed Himself to His disciples on Sunday morning.

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• If we observe the first sunset after conjunction as the beginning of the day of the new crescent moon, we will be in step with the pattern presented here.

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• The Jews consider conjunction to be the molad or birth of the new moon.

• The day of conjunction should be considered the death of the moon, instead of its birth, since this is the time in which the moon has its lowest luminosity.

• The rest of the day will be a day of the moon’s darkness representing the time Yeshua was in the grave.

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• Once sunset takes place, this would represent the sunset at which time Yeshua rose from the dead.

• During this time between sunset and sunrise, there was physical darkness and a period of waiting for the morning.

• This sunset marks the beginning of the day of the new crescent moon.

• Holy convocations can be held during the day before the sun sets once again.

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This pattern, that we compared to the white colors in our photo, only looks at the monthly change from conjunction to new crescent moon.

What about the pattern for the first month of the year? We could compare that to the alternating blue and orange colors, which are surrounded by white color in our photo.

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• To answer that question, let’s look at one final thematic pattern which parallels the same themes of the moon’s phases.

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Lunar Cycle Seasons Exodus From Egypt (Nisan 15)

Full Moon Summer(Life)

The time under Joseph’s leadership until the Pharaoh who did not know Joseph.

Waning crescent

Autumn(Decline)

The time of slavery through the first 9 plagues.

Conjunction Winter(Death)

The time period when the Passover Lamb and the firstborn Egyptians were killed.

New waxing crescent

Spring(New Life)

The Exodus and time of Unleavened Bread, which must take place in aviv (spring).See Exodus 13:4, 23:15, 18; Deut. 16:1

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• This pattern shows us that there has to be something that indicates the beginning or end of the year.

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• The March equinox is one of four calendrical markers.

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• According to Kiddush HaChodesh, chapter 4, section 2:

• If the March equinox took place before what would be Nisan 16th, it was considered a regular year.

• If the March equinox took place on or after what would be Nisan 16th, the year would be made full by adding another month.

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• The March equinox may have been the day when YHVH came from the heavenly realm with His army of destroyers, crossed over into the earthly realm, and killed the firstborn Egyptians.

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Pattern Month Passover Year

Beginning –New Life

New crescent Day

16th – First full day out of Egypt in 1st month = Aviv (spring, Nisan).

First month of Nisan has begun if equinox occurs before Nisan 16th.

End – Death Conjunction Day

15th – Death of Firstborn;Possible time of equinox.

Adar II needed if equinox is on or after what would be Nisan 16th.

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• As we will see in future presentations, the feast of Unleavened Bread is always to be celebrated in the month of aviv (abib, spring).

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• Be aware that the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread will not always coincide with the March equinox, but the feast of Unleavened Bread must always take place in the month of aviv.

• We will discuss why Nisan must occur within a specific narrow window of time in another presentation.

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• I realize that for people to break away from one standard to follow another is not helpful if other assemblies refuse to gather together with those who do things differently.

• This ruins the pattern of gathering together that YHVH has set before us.

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• Come…let us reason together and decide on the best method and do it together.

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Before rejecting this proposal, come with me to learn more so you can make a fully educated decision concerning calendar issues.

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March

Equinox

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ConjunctionNew

waning crescent


vs.

Represents hiddenness and death = It’s the last day of the month.

Represents birth, resurrection, something renewed = It’s the first day of the month.

Remember:


Next presentation in the New Moon Series:

#2 Historical Practices and Debate of the New Moon

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Attribution for title slide (#5):

By Ronnie Robertson (New Moon IMG_6949) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

• New King James Version used for Scripture quotations.

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The New Moon Series Part 1

ש ד ח

Compiled by: Beth C. Mehaffeyhttps://holyhiway.wordpress.comContact: betmeh2 at gmail.com

Prepared for: fotVA 2018

HODF

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Documents

The New Moon · 5/1/2019 · The New Moon’s Significance 10 Lunar Cycle Full Moon Waning crescent Conjunction New waxing crescent We will be comparing themes that form a particular