The Annual Sabbaths of Yahweh

Years 2000-2005

CIVIL YEAR	New Moon (conjunction) Times		A likely first sighting at Jerusalem on	New Year's Day	First Day of Unleavened Bread	Last Day of Unleavened Bread	Feast of Pentecost	Feast of Trumpets	Fast of Atonement	First Day of Tabernacles	Last Great Day of Tabernacles
2000 *	Abib	6 March 05:18	7 March	8 March	22 March	28 March	11 May	31 August	9 September	14 September	21 September
	Ethanim	29 August 10:20	30 August
2001	Abib	25 March 01:22	25 March	26 March	9 April	15 April	29 May	19 September	28 September	3 October	10 October
	Ethanim	17 Sept. 10:28	18 Sept.
2002	Abib	14 March 02:04	14 March	15 March	29 March	4 April	18 May	8 September	17 September	22 September	29 September
	Ethanim	7 Sept. 03:11	7 Sept.
2003	Abib	1 April 19:20	2 April	3 April	17 April	23 April	6 June	27 September	6 October	11 October	18 October
	Ethanim	26 Sept. 03:10	26 Sept.
2004	Abib	20 March 22:42	21 March	22 March	5 April	11 April	25 May	16 September	25 September	30 September	7 October
	Ethanim	14 Sept. 14:30	15 Sept.
2005 *	Abib	10 March 09:12	11 March	12 March	26 March	1 April	15 May	5 September	14 September	19 September	26 September
	Ethanim	3 Sept. 18:46	4 Sept.

NOTE: Asterisks (*) beside the years 2000 and 2005 in the chart above mean that the sacred calendar year will be started one month earlier than in the popular Jewish calendar. See below for Alternative Dates.

Why the Difference?

2. FIRST SIGHTINGS OF THE NEW MOON
As stated in the Calendar booklet concerning First Visibility:
It is not possible to infallibly predict the exact date and time of the first sighting of a new moon. Greenwich Observatory in England confirms this fact. Therefore when setting up a calendar in advance, it is necessary to proceed using all the known facts at one's disposal; facts such as

• Conjunction times in Jerusalem Standard Time (JST).
• New moon-rise & new moon-set times in JST.
• Full moon times in JST.

• First Sightings of the New Moon: The earliest recorded time a new moon has been seen with the naked eye after a conjunction (the astronomical new moon) is just under 15 hours. Normally first sightings occur anytime between 15 and 48 hours after a conjunction.
  This has led us to follow the 'General Guideline' of allowing a minimum of 24 hours after a conjunction for the new born crescent to become visible. If a month is begun on the day of the conjunction, as is the case in some 40% of months in the Jewish calendar, then the month will be started a day early!
• Morning Sightings: A new moon may be looked for in the evening of the 29^th day of each month OR on the morning of the 30^th day. This was the practice of the ancient Sanhedrin.
  If on the morning of the 30^th day the new moon was seen, then the day was reckoned as the 1^st of the new month and not the 30^th of old. If morning sightings are not undertaken, then it is possible that some months could be started a day late!
• Full Moon: Another point to be considered when setting the start date of a month in advance is the time when the full moon will occur. In the two festival months of Abib (Nisan) and Ethanim (Tishri) it is important to ensure that the start of the 15th day occurs as near as possible to the full moon. This will ensure that the First Day of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles (occurring as they do on the 15^th days) will be observed at the 'fullness of time,' that is when the moon is full. If these festival months are begun too late because a morning sighting was not undertaken, then these two feasts will be observed a day late!

3. THE YEARS 2000 & 2005
You will notice from the chart above that in these years SBS has started the year a month before the popular Jewish calendar. The reason is that we have selected the new moon nearest the true equinox (20^th March) to begin Abib (Nisan). In year 2000 this conjunction occurs on 6^th March at 7.18 hours (Jerusalem Time) and the new moon is expected to be seen on the evening of 7^th March or the morning of the 8^th March, thus making 8^th March the 1^st Abib. The full moon in this month will occur on 20^th March 2000, which exactly coincides with the equinox date. This could be significant!

Celestial/Spiritual Passovers
By starting the year on the 8^th March in year 2000, the Passover Service will be observed just after the Spring Equinox; which means that the literal sun will be passing-over the equator at about the same time as believers will be celebrating the spiritual Passover Service on the 14^th Abib. This coincidence of the celestial and spiritual Passovers is rare!

4. SIGNS IN THE SKY
Many believers become polarised about the matter of keeping the correct Feast days. It is, of course, vitally important; and that is why SBS makes such an effort to get it right. But let no one forget that the GREAT FEASTS (the realities to which all the current feasts point) will be miraculously highlighted by signs in the sun, moon and stars! We will not then be dependant upon computer printout, or the knowledge and skill of leaders feverishly arguing amongst themselves as to who is correct.

In the near future there shall be SIGNS IN THE SKY which will clearly mark out the correct feasts, sacred seasons or Sabbatical Year just as they did when the Saviour hung on the cross. On that occasion the sun went out for over three hours. That was no eclipse by any means; for an eclipse only lasts a few minutes.

Matt.27: 45

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

When the Saviour died on that memorable day, even the Roman soldier confessed:

ALTERNATIVE DATES
The following dates are given for those who wish to celebrate the Feasts in
A.D. 2000 and A.D. 2005 a month after SBS.

Notes

1. In the Sacred Calendar a year begins in spring with the Passover month of Abib (Exodus 12:2, 13:4). Abib is also known as Nisan. Ethanim the seventh month is also known as Tishri. The 4th and 5th month names (Tammuz and Ab) are not found in the Scriptures. In leap years the twelfth month is called Adar 1 and the thirteenth month is called Adar 2. Months in the Sacred Calendar begin with a first- sighting of the new moon from the stand-point of Jerusalem. So the above dates will differ from the new moon dates shown in many pocket diaries. Diary dates are those of a conjunction (the astronomical new moon), which occurs a day or more before a first sighting. In this chart, the new moon is likely to be seen on the evening prior to the given date. For example, in 2000 Abib's new moon was expected to become visible on the evening of Tuesday 7th March, making Wednesday 8th March the 1st Abib. This chart will help you keep track of the beginnings of months for years to come.

2. Every seventh day of the week (Saturday) is a Sabbath; a sacred rest-day which, according to the Ten Commandments, all mankind is required to keep in honour of the Creator (Exodus 20:8-11, Isaiah 58:13-14, Hebrews 4:9-11). The Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday evening and ends at sunset on Saturday evening.

3. In addition to the weekly sabbath there are seven other holydays in the Sacred Calendar which should be observed as Sabbath days (Leviticus chapter 23). The chart above lists these (Feast and Fast) dates for the coming years.

4. Together with the weekly Sabbath of Saturday, the annual Sabbaths constitute the unchanging Sign or Signature of YAHWEH, the Almighty God of Israel (Exodus 20:12&20, Exodus 31:13-18).

5. When Yahweh's Sabbaths are observed by a believer, they signal to the universe that here is a special worshipper of the Almighty: a believer in whose mind God has full permission to place His Law, His Seal, His Signature and His Name (Isaiah 8:16, Deuteronomy 6:4-8, Hebrews 8:8-10, Revelation 7:1-4).

6. Another amazing fact is that the Almighty's annual Sabbaths are directly linked with the starting dates of the Time Prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.

7. For further study, see Calendar Booklet

SBS   Sacred Calendar Page     Beginnings of Months 2000 - 2005

Elder: David B Loughran
Stewarton Bible School, Stewarton, Scotland
November 1999