t's been quite a while since my last newsletter
commentary. I've had several other "irons in the fire," so to speak, and
even though several topics of interest have floated their way to my
desk, I've pushed them aside so I could do other things, such as play
with my grandson!
Well, today is March 9, 2013 and we again find
ourselves in the midst of that awkward transition time between late
winter and early spring, which coincides with that time of year when
people send calendar articles designed to let the reader know why their
view is correct and all the others are wrong. So far this month we've
heard from at least five different individuals, none of whom (to the
best of my knowledge) have taken the time to read the two studies that
June and I have already composed on this subject. We wrote
Balancing the Calendar back in
2005, then
Balancing the Calendar II five
years later. To date, not one person has ever let us know of the errors
of our reasoning, yet they still apparently expect us to read their own
studies, which will apparently help us to "come to our senses" about the
true Scriptural calendar.
For 12 years, June and I "blindly" went by the
"Green Ears of Barley" reports from Israel. I say "blindly" because we
weren't able to actually see the "green ears of barley" that
others would report that they saw. I presumed the reporters were
knowledgeable about raising crops and that they knew the barley crop
they were looking at would be ripe and ready to harvest within two weeks of sighting the new
moon. The reason the barley has to be ripe within two weeks is because
that's when the Feast of Unleavened Bread occurs, and in ancient times
an important ceremony held in conjunction with this feast was the "Wave
Sheaf Offering." This offering is commanded in Leviticus 23:4-11:
4 These are the feasts
of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their
seasons.
5 In the fourteenth day
of the first month at even is Yahweh's passover.
6 And on the fifteenth
day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto Yahweh:
seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
7 In the first day ye
shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
8 But ye shall offer an
offering made by fire unto Yahweh seven days: in the seventh day is
an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
9 And Yahweh spake unto
Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the
children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land
which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye
shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the
priest:
11 And he shall wave the
sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the
sabbath the priest shall wave it.
When we read the above instructions for how
ancient Israel was to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it is clear
that they had to have ripe barley for the Wave Sheaf Offering mentioned
in Leviticus 23. Thus, towards the end of the 12th month of the
Scriptural year, when the time comes for determining if the next new
moon will mark the beginning of the first month of the Scriptural year,
if you can tell barley conditions are such that the crop will
require more than two weeks of maturing before it is considered ripe,
then you declare a 13th month instead of the first month of the new
year. On the other hand, if the barley crop has clearly headed
out and is in fact ripening to the point that you know it will be
“harvest-ready” by the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, then you
know it is safe to declare the next new moon as the first new moon of
the new year.
June and I understand and agree with the
above process. When those of the "Green Ears of Barley" crowd hear this, their
initial reaction is typically an expression of bewilderment that we go
by the vernal equinox instead of the "Green Ears of Barley" reports
offered by some Karaite Jews to their constituents each spring. Why, then, are
we at odds with those who go by the Karaites' "Green Ears of Barley"
reports from Israel? Well, it's like this: The Karaites’ "Green Ears of
Barley" reports are not trustworthy! No better example of this can be
found than one of recent times, the year 2010 to be exact. You can
read details of how and why we regard their 2010 account to be a bogus
report in our study
Balancing the Calendar II,
but briefly, the barley in their initial video reports was
not sufficiently mature to produce a ripe crop within the necessary
two-week waiting period for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Then, in
their follow-up video produced the day before Passover, which in essence
served as a bragging video demonstrating that they were "spot on" with their timing of
the new year, we saw what appeared to be some ripe barley amidst a field
that had a greenish hue. Anyone who has a decent amount of farming
experience with such crops as wheat and barley will tell you that a
field with a greenish hue is not considered "harvest-ready," yet that is
precisely what these religious prognosticators declared with glee!
This year, it appears we're about to have a
repeat of 2010. On March 5, 2013, the same "Green Ears of Barley"
reporter who sent out the 2010 bogus report expressed excitement at
having already found some "aviv barley" in Israel, and while he has
admitted that, as of March 5th, it's not sufficiently ripe to affirm a
general state of harvest-ready barley in time for a March Passover, he
nevertheless seems confident that by the time of the March 13th new moon
sighting, it will be far enough along to herald that new moon as the first
new moon of the year.
Well, I know he was wrong in 2010, and I am
persuaded that he will be wrong again in 2013 unless he should somehow
be so inclined to wait another month.
If Karaite Jews announce
the March 13, 2013 new moon as the first moon of the Scriptural year, you can bet that there will be
plenty of followers who will proceed to ridicule those who wait until on
or after the vernal equinox to declare the next new moon as being first new moon of the year.
One baseless tale we have heard is that by the time those of our
persuasion would harvest the barley for our April Feast of Unleavened
Bread, the barley seeds will have already started dropping off the
barley heads. I can assure you that this notion is a bunch of "hooey."
Here’s how I know: Back when I farmed with my dad, we didn't rush to
get the combine into the fields once our wheat appeared to be ripe and some
farmers, whom my dad considered lazy, would sometimes wait several weeks
before finally getting their act together. No one ever expressed concern that
the lazy farmers' wheat was "dropping seeds" or anything of the sort.
The only time we were concerned about losing grain in the field was
whenever a storm, especially a hail storm, would strike. It seems it's
only these religious non-experts who moan about losing grain in the
field if we wait longer than they think we should wait to harvest
grain. From our experience, their cry of alarm is nothing more than a
misguided scare tactic.
I believe my dad had the proper understanding
of when to declare a harvest-ready crop and although we didn't raise
barley, I believe the same basic principle applies to raising wheat.
Some farmers, much like the so-called "Green Ears of Barley"
prognosticators, couldn't seem to wait to get a jump on the harvest. The
crop had already turned a golden brown color, so that meant it was ripe,
right? Or so they reasoned. Something the "Green Ears of Barley" folks
don't seem to understand is the fact that just because the color is
right doesn't mean the seed is ripe. Where I grew up, we would harvest
the ripened wheat with my dad's John Deere 55 combine and haul each load
in our ton truck to the local grain elevator, where they would perform a
moisture test. If the moisture content was too high, they would "dock"
us a certain amount, which meant that although they accepted our grain,
they paid us a lower price-per-bushel than they otherwise would have
because the high moisture content meant they had to dry the grain
before it could be stored or shipped. I learned that just because a
field looked "harvest-ready," this didn't mean it was truly
harvest-ready.
In view of the above information, if the soon
forthcoming barley report video from the Karaite Jews shows a field of
green barley, does this mean that the barley will truly be ripe in time
for a March Feast of Unleavened Bread?
One of the articles we received this week from
a "Green Ears of Barley" supporter lists the following "problem" faced
by those of the "Equinox" persuasion:
If we
are supposed to see Yeshua in the firstfruits, then doesn't
it make sense that we should offer the first of the
firstfruits that come available, just as Yeshua was the
firstfruits among many brethren? We cannot do this if we
push the head of the year back a whole month, because by
that time the first of the barley will already have dropped
its seed. This is just one of many reasons why the Equinox
calendar does not work.
My response to the above commentary is that we
need to patiently await the ripening of the firstfruits instead of
"jumping the gun." We will not argue that we should all avoid tarrying
too long as we practice our faith, but we also need to remember that
patience is indeed a virtue; in fact, it is one of the fruits of
the spirit. If we agree that Yeshua is seen in the firstfruits, then shouldn't we await His presence with
the fruits of the spirit, including patience, instead
of rushing things? As for June and me, we prefer to await harvesting firstfruits until we know they are sufficiently ripe.
One thing we have learned in our 14 years of
reckoning the Scriptural new year from the new moon after the vernal
equinox is that there has always been ripe barley in time for the Feast
of Unleavened Bread.
We have found that those who go by the
"Green
Ears of Barley" reports from the Karaites in Israel do not typically
make historical references in their articles, which in turn means they are merely presenting their own private interpretations of
Scripture, interpretations that we do not agree with. Since the Bible
does not specifically tell us "when" to reckon the first month of the
year, arguing one's position solely from an interpretation of Scripture
often becomes an ambiguous exercise in futility laced with confusion.
Historically, we have found that Judaism understood the new year as
having been reckoned from the new moon that made its appearance on or
after the vernal equinox. The best witness we know who affirms this
understanding is 1st century Jew Philo, who wrote the following in his
work “Questions and Answers on Exodus":
(Scripture)
thinks it proper to reckon the cycle of months from the vernal equinox.
Moreover, (this month) is said to be the ‘first’ and the ‘beginning’ by
synonymy, since these (terms) are explained by each other, for it is
said to be the first both in order and in power; similarly that time
which proceeds from the vernal equinox also appears (as) the beginning
both in order and in power, in the same way as the head (is the
beginning) of a living creature. And thus those who are learned in
astronomy have given this name to the before-mentioned time. For they
call the Ram the head of the zodiac since in it the sun appears to
produce the vernal equinox.1
Philo did not attach any significance to the
ripeness of barley in determining when to begin the new year. Did he
understand that if you allow the vernal equinox to point to the first
new moon of the year, you will always have ripe barley in time for the
Feast of Unleavened Bread?
Some may present the argument that Philo was a
confused man who dabbled a little too much into Greek philosophy which,
combined with his bizarre way of expressing himself, undermines any
level of credibility that one may wish to attribute to his writings. I
can understand why someone might think that way. I have personally
found that Philo’s writings are a “bumpy read.” However, there is much
about the life of Philo that many people don’t know that, for us,
sufficiently establishes a high level of credibility insofar as first
century Jewish practice and belief. Philo was more than just a Jew
living in Alexandria, Egypt. He was the most prominent Jew living in
Alexandria, Egypt. His fellow Jews chose him over all other Jews to
represent their people in protesting an officially instigated massacre
of Jews in Alexandria. This was a very serious issue — a matter of life
and death for the Jews of Alexandria. In order to plead their case
before the Roman emperor, they had to select the man who could best
represent them. The question arises, “Would the Jews of Alexandria have
chosen Philo if he had not properly represented normative Jewish
practice and belief?
Indeed, they would only have chosen a man
whose beliefs reflected their own beliefs, whether that be Sabbath
observance, new moon observance, and yes, even how to properly reckon
the first month of the year. This is indeed a significant fact, as
echoed by The Cambridge History of Judaism:
It is
significant that his co-religionists chose him as ambassador to Caligula
in 39-40. In such circumstances only a man who was important in the
city would be appointed.2
For those who remain determined to reject the
credibility and reliability of Philo, we are providing the following
excerpt from The Anchor Bible Dictionary:
Philo was a
prominent member of the Jewish community of Alexandria , the largest
Jewish settlement outside Palestine. The only certain date known from
his life comes from his account of the great pogrom in Alexandria which
started in A.D. 38 under the prefect Flaccus, during the reign of the
Roman emperor Gaius Caligula. Philo was then chosen to head a
delegation (Gaium 370) sent in A.D. 39/40 by the Jewish community to
Gaius Caligula in Rome.3
Philo clearly had the respect of his fellow
Jews in Alexandria, but did his practice and belief reflect that of all
of normative Judaism? Again, let us turn to The Anchor Bible
Dictionary for the answer:
Was Philo then
fundamentally Greek or Jewish? His loyalty to the Jewish institutions,
the laws of Moses, the role of Israel as the priesthood of the world,
and his harshness against renegades (even to the point of advocating
lynching) shows that he was fundamentally a Jew.4
Philo represented the beliefs of
normative Judaism, and Philo regarded the vernal equinox, not the state
of the barley crop in Israel, as representing the determining factor for
reckoning the first month of the new year. You will always have ripe
barley and no, you don’t need to be concerned about losing grain from
dropped seeds before the day of the feast arrives.
I only composed this brief study as a response
or reaction to the ones we’ve been sent already this month. We have
friends who eagerly await the “Green Ears of Barley” reports from Israel
and we understand that it is a rare thing for believers to agree on
everything, so we don’t expect them to change their view or else
discontinue being our friends. Regardless of when you begin the
Scriptural year, may it be a blessed one for you and yours!
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