The Sacred Calendar

The true sacred calendar of the Bible is vitally important to salvation. Most professing Christians have been lead to believe all they have to do is "believe" in the Messiah and their eternal life is assured; that all the "Old Testament" observances of holy days have been "done away." Nothing could be further from the clear teachings of Scripture. "Belief" without obedience to the Law of Yahweh is contrary to the true Gospel Yahshua came preaching (Luke 6:46; Matt. 7:23).

The sacred calendar is a central part of the true Gospel, because it determines the true Sabbath days which are crucial signs of Yahweh (Ex. 31:13; Ezk. 20:12,20). By these vital Sabbath signs Yahweh shows who He has personally sanctified. True, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Yahshua the Messiah (i.e. His sacrifice; Heb. 10:10), but the evidence that we are in fact sanctified by Yahweh, is that we keep Yahweh's true Sabbaths (See again Ex. 31:13; Ezk. 20:12, 20).  The restoration of Yahweh's calendar system is, therefore, a top priority of the International Congregation of Yahweh.

Until the latter part of the 20th century, the true Biblical calendar had been lost in antiquity. In its place, various civil and evangelical calendar schemes have been substituted over the centuries.

The common Hebrew calendar is accepted by many as the true Scriptural calendar, which it is not. A copy of this calendar is found in "The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar 1900-2000" by Arthur Spier (1952). In truth, the historical evidence shows beyond any reasonable doubt, the present Hebrew calendar is simply the ancient Babylonian calendar.

For example, the Hebrew calendar in use today uses the unscriptural Babylonian evening-to-evening day. It begins the month with the Babylonian (and unscriptural) first visible crescent of the moon following the conjunction. Although this is a widely used definition of the New Moon, among many religious groups, it has no Biblical basis whatever.

In contrast to many other unscriptural calendar schemes in use today, the Hebrew does not use the vernal or autumnal equinoxes to set holy days. It does, however, deviate from the Scriptural 30-day month by using alternately 29 and 30-day months.  

Holy Day calendar for citizens of Jerusalem

This year, 2008, the Passover Sabbath (Abib 14) in Jerusalem begins Friday morning, April 18, 2008. The Passover service begins Friday evening at sunset. The last day of Passover [a Sabbath] in Jerusalem is Thursday, April 24.

Unleavened (unyeasted) bread should be eaten there through Friday evening, April 25.

The Feast of Weeks is from May 4, 2008 (Wave Sheaf Sunday) through June 21, 2008. The Feast of Weeks annual Sabbaths are May 10, 17, 24, 31, and June 7, 14, 21.

Shavouth (Pentecost) is to be observed in Jerusalem Sunday, June 22, 2008.

The Feasts of the seventh month for Jerusalem are as follows:

The first day of the seventh month, a New Moon Sabbath, begins Tuesday morning, September 30, 2008.  This day is often called "The Feast of Shoutings (Trumpets)" or "Rosh Hashanah."  Rosh Hashanah means "Head (beginning) of the year."

Atonements (10th day of the seventh month, Yom Kippurim) starts the morning of Thursday, October 9, and ends about 7 pm Thursday evening.  This is preceded by a Pre-Atonements Sabbath from noon-to-sunset, October 8, 2008.

The Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth) runs from Tuesday, October 14, through Monday, October 20. This is from the 15th day through the 21st of the seventh month.  Tuesday, October 21, beginning at dawn, is the last high Sabbath of the year, the Last Great Day (Shemini Atzereth).

Yahweh's Holy Day Sabbaths are to be observed from dawn-to-dark with the exception of the Pre-Atonements Sabbath.