Monday, February 15, 2016

Noah’s Flood & the Jubilees Calendar

Overview

The book of Jubilees is an early Hebrew document that is very similar to the Book of Genesis.  In fact, the Book of Jubilees is in agreement with the Book of Genesis.  In several instances though, the Book of Jubilees provides more details than the Book of Genesis.  The information below is meant to show what the calendar looked like that was described in the Book of Jubilees plus show the events of Noah’s flood on the calendar.  The calendar in Jubilees was a solar calendar just like the calendar described by Enoch.   

The Book of Jubilees provides this prophecy regarding time keeping:


Jubilees 1:13 "And they will forget all my law and all my commandments and all my judgments, and they will err in reference to new moons and sabbaths and festivals and jubilees and ordinances. And then they will turn themselves to me from the midst of the nations with all their hearts and all their soul and all their power, and I shall gather them from amongst all nations, and they will seek me that I may be found for them when they seek me with all their heart and with all their soul, and I will open to them much peace and happiness."

The full text to the Book of Jubilees can be found here:  http://wesley.nnu.edu/index.php?id=2127


The Jubilees Calendar

The Jubilees Calendar first tells us that the year is divided into four quarters or seasons and the first day of each quarter is a special day of remembrance. 

Jub 6:23 And on the new moon [beginning] of the first month, and on the new moon [beginning] of the fourth month, and on the new moon [beginning] of the seventh month, and on the new moon [beginning] of the tenth month are the days of remembrance, and the days of the seasons in the four divisions of the year. These are written and ordained 24 as a testimony for ever.

The words ‘new moon’ above is actually translated from the Hebrew word chodesh which really means month. Most of our bibles make this same mistake.  The verse below is an example of this mis-translation.

Amos 8:5 saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain?

This link shows the words ‘new moon’ used in this verse is chodesh: http://biblehub.com/lexicon/amos/8-5.htm

Biblehub.com shows that the word chodesh is normally translated as the word month, see http://biblehub.com/hebrew/2320.htm .  In fact in Genesis 8:5 below, the word chodesh is reflected as the word month.  Below are verses from three different books reflecting the same event and they all should be reflected as the first day of the month.

Genesis 8:5 The waters receded continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

Septuagint version of  Genesis 8:4 And the water continued to decrease until the tenth month.  And in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the heads of the mountain were seen.

Jubilees 5:30 And on the new moon [beginning]  of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen.

Then the Book of Jubilees goes on to explain, why the first days of the month that begin each quarter are special days of remembrance.  Plus it tells us that each quarter has 13 weeks and each year has 52 weeks.  13 times 4 equals 52 weeks in a year.   

Jubilees 6:25 And on the new moon [beginning]  of the first month he was bidden to make for himself an ark, and on that (day) the earth became dry and he opened 26 (the ark) and saw the earth. And on the new moon [beginning]  of the fourth month the mouths of the depths of the abyss beneath were closed. And on the new moon [beginning]  of the seventh month all the mouths of 27 the abysses of the earth were opened, and the waters began to descend into them. And on the new moon [beginning]  of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and Noah was glad. And on this account he ordained them for himself as feasts for a memorial for ever, and thus are they ordained. 29 And they placed them on the heavenly tablets, each had thirteen weeks; from one to another (passed) their memorial, from the first to the second, and from the second to the third, and from the 30 third to the fourth. And all the days of the commandment will be two and fifty weeks of days, and (these will make) the entire year complete. Thus it is engraven and ordained on the heavenly 31 tablets. And there is no neglecting (this commandment) for a single year or from year to year. 32 And command thou the children of Israel that they observe the years according to this reckoning- three hundred and sixty-four days, and (these) will constitute a complete year, and they will not disturb its time from its days and from its feasts;


Here is a table reflecting the four quarters or seasons of each solar year in the Jubilees calendar:



Enoch’s Calendar

The Book of Jubilees calendar is just like the calendar described in the Book of Enoch, chapter 82.   

4 Blessed are all the righteous, blessed are all those who walk In the way of righteousness and sin not as the sinners, in the reckoning of all their days in which the sun traverses the heaven, entering into and departing from the portals for thirty days with the heads of thousands of the order of the stars, together with the four which are intercalated which divide the four portions of the year, which lead them and enter with them four days.

Enoch goes on to tell that the solar year is divided into four quarters of 91 days each.  91 days divided by 7 days in a week equals 13 weeks for each quarter as the Book of Jubilees states.  Reflected below are the four quarters or seasons of the year described by Enoch:


To read more about Enoch’s solar calendar, please see this link.

Both the Enoch calendar and the Jubilees calendar agree with the Dead Sea Scrolls calendar.  Here is a link to the Dead Sea Scroll calendar.

Noah’s Flood Events & the Jubilees Calendar

The Book of Jubilees describes the dates of Noah’s flood events in more details than our bibles. The table below shows the dates of the events of Noah’s flood as described Genesis, Jubilees, Jasher and the Septuagint version of Genesis.  It also shows the dates of each event on our current calendar calculated from the Enoch or Jubilees Solar calendar as well as the World’s Last Chance Lunar calendar.  The dates in blue are calculated dates.  The feast dates for the lunar calendar come directly from the World’s Last Chance site.  Notice, while reading the verses below, that all four books are in agreement.

To see the actual calendars, click on these links:

Year
Hebrew Calendar
2016-17 Solar Calendar
2016-17
Lunar
Calendar
Days
Genesis, Jubilees & Septuagint Genesis
1307 A.M
Month 1, day 1
Mar 20th
Mar 9th

Jub 5:22 And Noah made the ark in all respects as He commanded him, in the twenty-seventh jubilee of years, in the fifth week in the fifth year (on the new moon [beginning] of the first month)
600 year of Noah’s life
1308 A.M.
Month 2, day 17
Month 2, day 27
May 6th
May 16th
Apr 24th
May 4th

Gen 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep were burst open, and the sky's windows were opened.
Sep Gen 7:11 In the six hundredth year of the life of Noe, in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, on this day all the fountains of the abyss were broken up and the flood gates were opened.
Jub 5:23 And he entered in the sixth (year) thereof, [1308 A.M.] in the second month, on the new moon [beginning] of the second month, till the sixteenth; and he entered, and all that we brought to him, into the ark, and the Lord closed it from without on the seventeenth evening.
Note:  I believe the difference between the two dates is that Noah and his family plus the animals started being loaded on day 17 but Yahweh did not close the ark until day 27.

Month 3, day 27
(Lunar Month 3, day 28)
Jun 15th
Jun 3rd
40 days
Gen 7:12 The rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. In the same day Noah, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, entered into the ark.
Sep Gen 7:12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
Jub 5: 25 And the flood-gates began to pour down water from the heaven forty days and forty nights, 

Month 4, day 1
Jun 20th
Jun 5th

Jub 5:29 And (on the new moon [beginning]) in the fourth month the fountains of the great deep were closed and the flood-gates of heaven were restrained

Month 7, day 1
Sep 19th
Sep 1st

 Jub 5:29 on the new moon [beginning] of the seventh month all the mouths of the abysses of the earth were opened, and the water began to descend into the deep below.

Month 7, day 17
(Lunar Month 7, day 15)
Or
Month 7, day 17
Month 7, day 27
Oct 5th
Oct 15th
Sep 17th
Sep 27th
150 days  
5 Months
Gen 7:24 The waters prevailed on the earth one hundred fifty days.
Sep Gen 7:24 And the water was raised over the earth an hundred and fifty years.
Gen 8:3 The waters receded from off the earth continually. After the end of one hundred fifty days the waters decreased.
Jub 5: 27 And the water prevailed on the face of the earth five months -one hundred and fifty days.

Month 7, day 17
Month 7, day 27
Oct 5th
Oct 15th
Sep 17th
Sep 27th

Gen 8:4 The ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat's mountains.
Sep Gen 8:3 The ark rested in the seventh month on  the twenty-seventh day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat

Month 10,
 day 1
Dec 19th
Nov 30th

Gen 8:5 The waters receded continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
Sep Gen 8:4 And the water continued to decrease until the tenth month.  And in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the heads of the mountain were seen.
Jub 5:30 And on the new moon [beginning] of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen.

Month 11, day 10
(Lunar 11 month, day 11)
Jan 27th
Jan 8th
40 days
Gen 8:6 It happened at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made, and he sent forth a raven.

Month 11, day 17
(Lunar Month 11, day 18)
Feb 3rd
Jan 15th
7 days
Gen 8:10 He stayed yet another seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark
601 year of Noah’s life
Month 1, day 1
Mar 20th
Mar 28th

Gen 8:13 It happened in the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth. Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked. He saw that the surface of the ground was dried.
Sep Gen 8:13 And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year of the life of Noe, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water subsided from the earth.
Jub 5:30 on the new moon [beginning] of the first 31 month the earth became visible.
1309 A.M.
Month 2,
day 27
May 16th
May 23rd

Gen 8:14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
Sep Gen 8:14 And in the second month the earth was dried, on the twenty-seventh day of the month.
Jub 5:31  the waters disappeared from above the earth in the fifth week in the seventh year [1309 A.M.] thereof, and on the seventeenth day in the second month the earth was dry. 32 And on the twenty-seventh thereof he opened the ark.
Jasher 6:38 And at the revolution of the year, when a full year was completed to Noah's dwelling in the ark, the waters were dried from off the earth, and Noah put off the covering of the ark.  39 At that time, on the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry, but Noah and his sons, and those that were with him, did not go out from the ark until the Lord told them.

Month 3, day 1
May 20th
May 26th

Jub 6:1 And on the new moon [beginning] of the third month he went forth from the ark, and built an altar on that mountain. And he made atonement for the earth

Month 3, 
day 15
Jun 3rd 
Jul 22nd

 Jub 6:17 For this reason it is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets, that they should celebrate the feast of weeks in this month once a year, to renew the covenant every year. And this whole festival was celebrated in heaven from the day of creation till the days of Noah -twenty-six jubilees and five weeks of years [1309-1659 A.M.]
Lev 23:15 [Regarding the Feast of Weeks] “You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. [This fifty days is seven weeks plus one Sabbath day so it is repeating the previous verse. Notice the Deuteronomy only mentions the seven weeks.]
Due 16:9 “You shall count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you.

Solar and Lunar Calendar Comparison

Reflected below is a comparison of the solar calendar described in Enoch and Jubilees and the lunar calendar described by World’s Last Chance.

The Year Comparison

The Book of Jasher states that Noah lived in the ark for a year.  A year is defined as the number of solar days it takes the earth to rotate around the sun.  A years’ worth of time should starts and ends on the same date since the earth takes the same amount of time to travel around the sun each year.  The Hebrew word for year is shanah and it is reflected in the bible approximately 780 times. Therefore, the Hebrews used a solar year to determine time.

Jasher 6:38 And at the revolution of the year, when a full year was completed to Noah's dwelling in the ark

The Hebrew start and end date was Month 2, day 27 which translates to the following solar and lunar dates:
  • ·         The solar start and end date is May 16th.
  • ·         The lunar start date is May 4th and the lunar end date is May 23rd.   The lunar calendar has no regard for a year’s worth of time since the year start date depends on a new moon and not the rotation of the earth around the sun.  I realize they do start the year close to the spring equinox but they do not start and end the year ever on the same date which would be a years’ worth of time.  They actually start the new year when the 12 or 13 month is completed.

Four Quarters & Seasons

The Jubilees calendar states that the year is divided into four quarters which are seasons. The solar and lunar calendars had the following:
  • ·         The solar calendar is divided into 4 distinct quarters that agree with the seasons Yahweh created.
  • ·         The lunar calendar has no regard for seasons and could not be used for agricultural reasons.  In fact the 2016 calendar shows they plan to celebrate the fall feast days during the summer.  Leviticus 23:39 tells us that the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles is not to be celebrated until the harvest is completed.  The final harvest time is in the fall. Also three months in a lunar calendar only equals 88.5 day and would never achieve 91 days per quarter.

The Sabbath Days per Quarter

The Jubilees calendar states that each quarter has 13 weeks; therefore, there are 13 Sabbath days per quarter.   Leviticus 23:3 and other verses tell us that a week is 6 work days and one Sabbath day. The solar and lunar calendars had the following:
  • ·         The solar calendar has 13 Sabbaths per quarter.  Each week has only one Sabbath day.
  • ·         The lunar calendar, depending on the quarter, has either 15 or 16 Sabbath days per quarter.  Some weeks have two Sabbath days.

The Month

The Book of Jubilees state the flood of water occurred for five months or 150 days.  Five months, times 30 days, equals 150 days.  The Hebrew start date was Month 2, day 27 and the end date was Month 7, day 27.  The solar and lunar calendars had the following:
  • ·         The solar calendar start date was May 16th and the end date was October 15th.  This is 5 months and five months equals 150 days.  There were 152 days in total though counting the two 91st days.
  • ·         The lunar calendar start date was May 4th and the end date was September 27th.  This is four lunar months plus 23 days.  That is only 146 days total.  Since lunar months are only 29.5 days, five months will never be 150 days.

The Feast of Weeks

The Book of Jubilees states that Noah started building an altar on Month 3, day 1.  Then he celebrated the Feast of Weeks.  The solar and lunar calendars had the following:
  • ·         The solar calendar reflected that Noah started building the altar on May 20th and then celebrated the Feast of Weeks on June 3rd.  This is only 15 days after he started building the altar.
  • ·         The lunar calendar on World’s Last Chance reflects that Noah started building the altar on May 26th and then waited to celebrate the Feast of Weeks on July 22nd.  This is 58 days after he started building the altar.

Conclusion

The Enoch, Jubilees and Dead Sea Scrolls calendars were all solar calendars that agreed with each other.  Their solar calendar is in agreement with the season of the year that Yahweh created.  Plus the solar calendar keeps the Sabbath day law and feast day laws perfectly.

There are no early writings, documentation or proof that the Hebrews ever used a lunar calendar.  The Book of Jubilees does make this prophecy about the lunar calendar:

Jubilees 6:36 For there will be those who will assuredly make observations of the moon -how (it) disturbs the seasons and comes in from year to year ten days too soon. For this reason the years will come upon them when they will disturb (the order), and make an abominable (day) the day of testimony, and an unclean day a feast day, and they will confound all the days, the holy with the unclean, and the unclean day with the holy; for they will go wrong as to the months and Sabbaths and feasts and  jubilees. 

From a book entitled “The Jewish People in the First Century, Vol. II”, edited by S. Safrai and M. Stern, pp. 842–843:

The book of Jubilees defended the solar calendar against the lunar one. The disciples are told that a divine messenger informed Moses: "Now you command the Israelites to keep the years in this number—364 days. Then the year will be complete and it will not disturb its time from its days or from its festivals because everything will happen in harmony with their testimony. They will neither omit a day nor disturb a festival." Later the angel predicts: "There will be people who carefully observe the moon with lunar observations because it is corrupt (with respect to) the seasons and is early from year to year by ten days." The author of the book of Jubilees argued that with the lunar calendar the sacred days are profaned and the profane days are sanctified. This calendar dispute developed because the book of Jubilees insisted that the solar calendar was the one divinely revealed. Yet, anyone with even a limited calendar knowledge knows that if the lunar calendar was not intercalated (days added occasionally to make up for the shortage) the agricultural season will soon be observed at the wrong time of the year (The Anchor Bible Dict., Vol. I, art. "Calendars"). The book of Jubilees accused the Jews of not following their solar calendar because they followed "the feasts of the Gentiles after their error and ignorance. For there will be those who will assuredly make observations of the moon—now it disturbs the seasons and comes in from year to year ten days too soon" (Safrai and Stern, p. 839).

Yahweh has scheduled feast days that we are to memorialize and celebrate each year.  Therefore, study the calendar for yourselves and ensure you are showing up on the right dates. 


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