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Most Christian and Jewish theologians posture that tekufah
refers to the vernal equinox, which determines their traditional timing
of Passover/Easter. The Christians celebrate Ishtar (Easter) on the
first Sunday after the vernal equinox. The modern Orthodox
Jewish calendar was set at Yavne in 120, under the direction of Yochanan
ben Zakkai and is also based on solar calculations. For
ease of reading,
statements that
support the tekufah/equinox scenario are in dark blue,
my responses are in
light blue.
1) "The
equinox occurs when the sun "crosses" the equator. The
Hebrew word is tekufah, and refers to the solstices as well as
to the equinoxes.
The
four seasons in the year are called tekufot.
No,
the Hebrew word tekufah bears no direct peshat (simple)
reference to a Scriptural "season", nor did it originally refer to equinoxes
and solstices. Tekufah simply refers to a demarcation or
end of any cycle.
"Season"
is derived from Hebrew words like yom, moed, malak, eth, layil,
zeman, zaman.
Tekufah
might be a useful word to describe the point when you need to change the oil in your
car, the old oil comes to the end (tekufah) of it's cycle, and
gets replaced. Cycles are thought to be round, the root word of tekufah is naqaf, as in:
You shall not naqaf (round) the corners of your heads, neither
shall you mar the corners of thy beard.
Vayikra / Leviticus 19:27
And ye shall naqaf
(compass) the city, all you men of war, and go round about the
city once. Thus shall you do six
days.
Joshua 6:3
There are two periods in Rabbinical Jewish history when Jews
adopted pagan calendars, one was in Babylon, the other was at
the counsel of Yavne in 120 AD. As the temple was being
destroyed in Jerusalem Yochanan ben Zakkai was in Yavne trying
to keep the Rabbinical boat afloat. It was at Yavne where
the Rabbis ordered the canonization of the Tenach, and where the
modern Orthodox calendar was instituted to replace the Torah
based calendar. That being said, here's an interesting
tidbit from the Talmud.
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Shabbat 75a Rav Shmuel bar Nachmani says in the name of Rav
Yochanan:
What is the source in the Torah that one is obligated
to figure out the equinoxes and mazalot (zodiac)?
It says ".. and you shall observe
and do, for that is your wisdom and understanding before the
eyes of the nations ...".
What is wisdom and understanding
before the eyes of the nations?
Say that it is the calculation
of equinoxes (tekufot) and mazalot."
Pretty sad isn't
it? They're striving to find ways to justify their new
traditions, but then there is also
this conflict between Yochanan and Shmuel as to whether
magushta
(Persian astrologers) are sorcery or blasphemy. One should not
learn from a Magush on pain of death, and one who can
calculate the tekufot u’mazalot (celestial cycles and
Zodiac signs) should do it on pain of being shunned.
Either
way it's was strictly prohibited to calculate the equinoxes!
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The Rabbis knew the calculations of the equinoxes were important
in pagan sun worship culture, but they apparently rejected it
however the pressure was on the Jewish status quo to stay on top
of the game. Take a
look at the names of the "Jewish" months on the top line, and
compare them with the Babylonian months below.
Adar, Nissan, Iyar,
Sivan, Tamuz, Av, Elul, Tishrey, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shvat,
Adaru,
Nisanu, Ayaru,
Simanu, Du'uzu,
Ululu, Tashritu,
Arach-Samna, Kislimu,
Tebetu,
Shabatu
You
wouldn't happen to notice any similarities would you? No, the
names of the "Jewish" months aren't Jewish and they are
far from being Torah based! When in Babylon, many Jews
adopted Babylonian culture, but not all Jews succumbed. Those with
Torah consciousness knew not to follow the customs of the
pagans, however the Rabbinical trump card says that their Rabbis are
right and the prophets of YHWH are wrong.
I wish it was a joke, but it's not. YHWH sent His
prophets, but they were routinely abused and murdered by the "sanhedrin
authority of the
majority" of the day. So if you're using Rabbinical lore
to bolster a tekufah/equinox position, why waste your time?
In Beit Alpha, Israel there is synagogue with a
6th century mosaic on the floor with the zodiac wheel, a chariot of the Sun (Greek motif) in the middle, and
four "tekufot" (turning points) of the year, solstices and
equinoxes, each named for the month in which it occurs, tekufah
of Tishrei, tekufah of Tevet, tekufah of Nissan, tekufah of
Tamuz. So just because some Rabbis of the past endorse pagan
ideas, this certainly does not make it kosher!
2)
Tekufot
is the beginning of the four seasons. ... tekufah stands for the
true, not the mean, equinox.
No, tekufah is mentioned only four
times in the Tenach and it simply refers to the end of a period, or
an expanse here are the occurances:
A) "And you shall observe chag shavuot (the feast of weeks), of
the bikkur (firstfruits) of wheat harvest, and the
Chag ha'Asif (feast
of ingathering which is Succoth or Feast of Tabernacles) at the
shaneh (year's)
tekufah
(end). Shemot/Exodus 34:22
B) "Yom (time)
tekfah (wherefore
it came to pass)
about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and
called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of
YHWH. 1 Samuel 1:20
C) "Tekufah (and
it came to pass at the end of the)
shaneh (year), that the host of Syria came up against him: and
they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes
of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of
them unto the king of Damascus. 2 Chronicles 24:23.
D) "His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his
tekufah (circuit)
unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat
thereof." Psalm 19:6
Quotes ABC refer to the completion (end) of a particular cycle,
whereas D
refers the end or border of space, more so than time.
A) the tekufah (end of the cycle) here refers to they cycle of
the Moedim. Succoth is the last
Moed
at the end of the Feast cycle.
NOT an equinox.
B) tekufah refers to the end of Hannah's nine month pregnancy,
NOT an equinox.
C) tekufah refers to the end of the year cycle, this is
regarding the calendar year, not the Moedim,
NOT an equinox.
D) tekufah refers to the end or furthest point of the sun's
"home", certainly NOT an equinox.
Psalm 19
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1 To
the chief Musician, A Psalm of
David.
The
heavens declare the glory of
Elohim; and the firmament
(spread) shows his handiwork.
2 Day
unto day utters speech, and
night unto night shows
knowledge.
3 There
is no speech nor language, where
their voice is not heard.
4 Their
measuring line (line) is gone
out through all the eretz
(earth), and their words to the
border (end) of the tevel
(world). In them has he
set a home (tabernacle) for the
sun,
5 Which
is as a bridegroom coming out of
his chuppah (wedding canopy),
and rejoices as a strong man to
guard a path.
6 His
going forth is from the end of
the heaven, and his tekufah
(circuit) unto the ends of it:
and there is nothing hid from
the heat thereof.
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Just to make sure we're on the same page,
the EARTH revolves around the sun**, the
earth is the center of our solar system. One
should also bear in mind that in Hebrew,
Shemesh (sun) is a feminine term, and David
is waxing poetic here, so to use this verse
to build a doctrinal case for equinox
reckoning is erroneous and rather pathetic.
And Elohim said, "Let there be lights in the
expanse of the sky to separate the day from
the night, and let them be for signs,
seasons, days and years, and let them be
lights in the expanse of the sky to give
light on the earth." And it was so. Elohim
made two great lights the greater light to
govern the day and the lesser light to
govern the night. He also made the stars.
Elohim set them in the expanse of the sky to
give light on the earth, to govern the day
and the night, and to separate light from
darkness. And Elohim saw that it was good.
And there was evening, and there was
morning--the fourth day. B'resheet/Genesis
1:14-19
Another component to the equation is, if the sun governs the day, and the moon
governs the night, then what do the stars
govern?
They fought from heaven; the stars in their
paths fought against Sisera. Judges 5:20
Which makes Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades,
and the private chambers of the south.
Job 9:9
"Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades?
Can you loose the cords of Orion? Can
you bring forth the wheel of stars into its
seasons and stand in the path of Ayish/Iyutha
(Aldeberan) and her satellites (Hyades). Do
you know the laws of the heavens and can you
establish their rule over the earth?
Have you given wisdom to the Lance Star (Antares)
or intelligence to the Bow Star?"
Job 38:31-33, 36
Compare the literal Hebrew Aramaic
translation above, with the KJV below.
"Can you bind the sweet influences of
Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his
season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with
his sons? 33 Knowest thou the ordinances of
heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof
in the earth? 36 Who hath put wisdom
in the inward parts? or who hath given
understanding to the heart? Job
38:31-33, 36
He tells the number of the stars; he calls
them all by their names. Psalms
147:4
Thus says YHWH, which gives the sun for a
light by day, and the chuqqah (statutes) of
the moon and of the stars for a light by
night, which divides the sea when the waves
thereof roar; Jeremiah 31:35
You who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave
off righteousness in the earth, Seek him
that makes the seven stars and Orion, and
turns the shadow of death into the morning,
and makes the day dark with night: that
calls for the waters of the sea, and pours
them out upon the face of the earth: YHWH is
his name." Amos 5:7-8
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in
the moon, and in the stars; and upon the
earth distress of nations, with perplexity;
the sea and the waves roaring; Luke
21:25
Where is he that is born King of the Jews?
for we have seen his star in the east, and
are come to worship him... When they had
heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the
star , which they saw in the east, went
before them, till it came and stood over
where the young child was. When they saw the
star, they rejoiced with exceeding great
joy. Matthew 2:2, 9, 10.
The stars were also included as reference points for
timing special events however we know that once the beginning of the year is
determined, the rest of the Moedim fall into
place based on the sightings of the new
moons (months). YHWH says that
Firstfruits offering at Shavout comes 50
days after the
barley offering during Feast of Unleavened
Bread. YHWH says a wave
offering is to be given, from new barley,
but no
equinox observations are noted in Scripture,
but obviously it takes heat from the sun to
grow barley, no sun, no ripe barley.
Unlike the Moslem calendar which can fall back into the
winter months, the Torah calendar can never,
even a child understands that barley doesn't ripen
in snow covered fields.
The seventh month (Tishri) begins with the
Feast day of Yom Teruah (Rosh haShana), once
the new moon is sighted, therefore the only
month that is in question is Abib, because
the rest of the year is obviously based on it.
On March 18, 2007 several witnesses provided
barley reports throughout Israel as
follows:
"Small fields of Aviv were found near Ein
Mabua in Wadi Qelt, about 16km from
Jerusalem. In two random samplings from Ein
Mabua 70% and 90% of the barley were Aviv.
A small plot of Aviv barley was found near
Na'omi Junction; some of the stalks were
riper than Aviv. Many fields of Aviv
barley were found in the central Jordan
valley several kilometers north of Marj a-Naga;
the fields of Aviv stretched for several
kilometers. In two random samplings from
north of Marj a-Naja 80% and 100% of the
barley was Aviv or riper than Aviv."
The barley is ripened well in preparation
for Yom haBikkurim. The new moon is sighted on
March 20th at about 6 pm. The spring
equinox happens on March 21st at (3:00 am)
Jerusalem time, but what happens when the
barley is ripened and the new Moon for Pesach occurs before
the Equinox? Well, there is a group of
people who suggest that the moon must be
sighted AFTER the equinox!?! These
people are observing Pesach one month later,
the irony of it that this will push their
celebration of Succoth right into early
November!!! This is foolishness, but,
they are ardent followers of equinoxy
theology, they follow the authority of the
equinox and bread division within the body
of Mashiyach.
The equinox was and is a big deal for sun worshippers, which is how
Christo-Paganism's Ishtar (Easter)
celebration occurs on the first Sun-Day
after the spring equinox. Hipparcus in
129 BC, is credited for "discovering" the
equinox, but this seems bogus to me, because Tammuz
day (Christmas) is a pagan festival based on the winter solstice, and if the
pagans knew about the solstice, they would
surely have also been observing the equinoxes.
The vernal (spring) equinox happens when
the path of the sun is coming your way over the
equator, so while we are enjoying the onset
of warmer weather in the north, those south
of the equator have an autumnal equinox and
are headed for winter. So let's say
one believer lives in Australia and one in
Canada and they are celebrating the Feasts
of YHWH, both Torah observant, both want to
observe Yom haBikkurim, both are looking for
the equinox before they celebrate. All
things being equal they will be 6 months out
of sync with each other. Because the
period between the 1st month and the 7th
month is calculated by the sightings of the
moon, and barley, wheat and the ingathering
are all required to observe the Feasts and
fulfill Torah. If the vernal
equinox must be "observed" by all believers,
then you could celebrate all the Feasts of
YHWH twice a year, by bouncing back and
forth between the North and South
hemispheres, that is, if you could afford
the time and plane fares.
YHWH designated Jerusalem, Israel as the
location from which universal Biblical time
is established, and the rest of the world
either follows suit, or makes up their own
man made feast schedules. Jerusalem is
the City of the King, yes it's now under
siege of the one world government and all
form of darkness and paganism, but don't
worry, Mashiyach ben David is going to take
care of this. In the meantime we must
look to his government. Mashiyach is
returning to Jerusalem, it doesn't appear as
he'll be doing a stopover in New York,
London, Vancouver, Cape Town or Sydney.
4)
The tekufah (singular) of Nisan denotes the sun at the vernal
equinox. The next tekufah denotes the summer solstice. The
third tekufah denotes the fall equinox. The fourth tekufah
denotes the winter solstice.
NO, tekufah is not to be used as an
adjective to relate to the equinox, this is clearly NOT it's
intended usage. Jews who follow the pagan calendar married the word tekufah with the Babylonian names of the months. If
someone can show in the Tanakh where tekufah is
married with the original Torah names, I would appreciate
seeing this, but it doesn't exist! Those equinoxers who
have searched the Targums, Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Jewish
Encyclopedia have discovered that the word "tekufah" picked up
pagan interpretation, some "magic baggage" along the way.
5)
Tekufah
appears in the Scriptures four times, and relates to the
calendar at least three times.
The Scriptures have been
referenced,
to say that Tekufah "relates" to the calendar is reverse logic, begging the question, or circular
reasoning. Tekufah appears four times in scripture, but
nowhere does it specify a demarcation "season", only the end
of the cycle. On the other hand check out Aviv in Scripture;
Exodus 9:31 "in the ear", Exodus 13:4 "month of Aviv"; Exodus
23:15 "month of Aviv"; Exodus 34:18 "month of Aviv" (2X)
Leviticus 2:14 "green ears of standing grain" Deuteronomy 16:1
"month of Aviv". YHWH showed the Israelites what Aviv
was, when it was, and how to observe it. Nowhere in
Scripture do we find the word tekufah mentioned in conjunction with Aviv,
and this is the only place it matters. Those who put any
stock in tekufah relating to Aviv would have to admit that a
massive oversight was made by YHWH for not presenting the
equinoxes in Torah, OR, that He NEVER INTENDED IT!!! The reason YHWH didn't reveal the
equinoxes is because obviously He chose not, those who put
emphasis on equinoxes are adding to Scripture, which is also a violation of
Deuteronomy 12:32.
6) "And it
came to pass at the end [tekufah] of the year (shaneh), that the Syrians
came up against him: .." (2 Chr. 24:23).
This refers to the end and, therefore, the beginning of another
year, demarcated by the spring equinox and the new moon.
No, this
is just more circular reasoning. Tekufah references
the end of the year, this relates to time, therefore tekufah
must refer to the equinox. Nope. Torah contains 613
commandments, there is NO commandment that instructs us to
calculate the equinoxes, this is adding to Torah and must be
thoroughly and completely rejected among YHWH's people who are
in Mashiyach. Notice that the Hebrew uses two words here
tekufah and shaneh simply to indicate that this event occurred
at the end of the year, it DOES NOT give us a specific date.
In summary, both Rabbinical and Christian tradition employs the
equinoxes to calculate religious festivals. The
Rabbis were heavily influenced by the Babylonian calendar and
they clearly adopted their calendar in Yavne about 120 AD.
However Chabad Jews maintain that they will return to a Torah
based calendar when Mashiyach comes. So they know better,
but they follow their tradition, rather than
observingTorah!
The Christians
set their calendar
at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, which scheduled Easter to be
celebrated on the first Sunday following the full moon occurring
after the vernal equinox. But, if the full moon
occurs on a Sunday, Easter is celebrated the following Sunday,
this again is against Torah.
Western churches (Catholic and Protestant) follow the Gregorian
calendar, the Eastern churches, follow the Julian calendar, and
celebrate Easter and other Church holidays differently.
There is a global authority (principality) that established both
of these religious traditions, Rabbinical and Christian,
that is dispensed from a central authority, and neither are from
YHWH. Therefore both Rabbinical and Christian tradition
esteems man's authority as higher than Torah and Mashiyach, so
what's new already? It's nothing new,
but VERY important that we choose to reject traditions of men
and follow Torah, because YHWH gave His
calendar to make distinction between His people and those who
refuse His Authority and His Kingdom. The Feasts of YHWH fall on days
that are prophetic and have huge impact both now and in the future as
we race towards the coming of Mashiyach ben David. If you
are one who watches current events and who also knows
YHWH's calendar, then take a look a the signs in the heavens that
occur on His Feast days.
Check out what was happening on the sun during the Torah
calculated Shavuot on May
15, 2005, for an impressive and very unique event that has never been recorded before
in mankind's history,
it looked for a few hours like the sun was literally coming apart
at the seams, precious few were tuned
in. Here are some links, but you'll have to scroll back to
the correct dates... ENJOY!!!
YHWH be with you,
Shalom U'Vrachot,
Baruch Ben Daniel
**A 1999 Gallup
poll found that 18% of Americans believe that the sun
revolves around the earth.
The
question: “As
far as you know, does the earth revolve around the sun or does
the sun revolve around the earth?” About four out of five
Americans (79%) responded that the earth revolves around the
sun, while 18% say it is the other way around. In Germany 16%
believe the sun revolves around the earth, 10% said they didn’t
know. In Great Britain, 67% said the earth revolves around the
sun, 19% said the sun revolves around the earth, and 14% didn’t
know for sure. The results from America are based on
telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of
1,016 adults, 18 years and older, conducted June 25-27, 1999.
For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent
confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and
other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In
addition to sampling error, question wording and practical
difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias
into the findings of public opinion polls.
CLICK
HERE TO CHECK OUT THE FEAST DATES
Pesach
Chag HaMatzah
HaBikkurim
Shavuot
Yom
Teruah
Yom HaKippurim
Succoth
Shemini Atzeret
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