Commonly Asked Questions About the Hebrew Calendar

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We are now ready to cover a range of questions and issues pertaining to the Hebrew calendar. The order in which the questions are presented does not indicate an order of importance. These questions are of recent vintage and can easily be identified as such. Regardless of how absurd some of them may sound, they deserve answers, because issues of this nature have become stumbling blocks to many in this age.

(1) Why hasn’t the Church written articles or booklets on the postponements so that the membership could understand this sensitive calendar issue?

Ambassador College students in the Worldwide Church of God were required to cover basic aspects of the calendar and courses did exist for detailed calculations of the calendar. Various articles have appeared that generally addressed the subject. An article entitled, Prove God’s Calendar Correct!, by Kenneth Herrmann, appeared in a 1957 Good News. A few such articles were written, the last one appearing in 1981.

1 “What Happened in the Church”
2 (2) When did God first authorize the use of postponements?
3 (3) Does the Hebrew calendar contradict or interfere with the timing of the Holy Days as given in Leviticus 23:1-44?
4 (4) Can’t we just look to the Scriptures instead of depending on the Jews to determine when the Holy Days should be kept?

“What Happened in the Church”

During the fifth or Sardis Era of God’s Church, as most of God’s people drifted away from observance of the Holy Days, the sacred calendar came to be disregarded. During the twentieth century, those called into the truth learned of the Holy Days from the Scriptures and how they were related to the Hebrew calendar. The membership of the Church had confidence that the leadership understood these matters. It was extremely rare for anyone in the Worldwide Church of God to question the accuracy of the Hebrew calendar.

By the 1990s, most doctrines in God’s Church were called into question, and ultimately cast aside by false leaders who took over the Church. As a result, the calendar naturally came into scrutiny by many independent thinkers—characteristic of this final era in Church history. Before this time, the calendar was rarely a controversial issue. The Hebrew calendar became controversial only in the eyes of those who sought to discredit it. Ironically, after an extensive course was published (1974) for educational use at Church headquarters (The Hebrew Calendar: A Mathematical Introduction, by Kossey), it was virtually never brought into question. Twenty years later, a new mindset prevailed, not necessarily armed with factual knowledge but determined to pick up where the apostates left off in their contempt for the truth.

Much of the confusion of this day originates from various critics who have capitalized upon certain calendar “issues”—with the intent of sowing doubt and uncertainty—to ultimately gain a following. While placing unique calendar revelations as the centrepiece of their new faith, they attempted to prove that the Jews were incapable and unworthy of preserving the calendar.

Some have gone so far as to accuse the Jews of deliberately altering the time of the Holy Days and the weekly Sabbath for their own convenience. This has served to mislead those not well rooted in the faith. Thus, a renewed appreciation for the intricacy and precision of the Hebrew calendar needs to be presented to those who still value sound doctrine.

However, there also existed a lengthy study course in the 1970s, entitled, The Hebrew Calendar: A Mathematical Introduction, which taught detailed calculations of the calendar. Though not advertised, it was available mainly for students, yet could have been sent to anyone who requested the information. Such requests were virtually non-existent before the 1990s.

Since the calendar was not a big issue until recently, it was not often addressed. But there was never any contrived effort to hide such calendar issues from the membership.

Consider for a moment the endless confusion had God allowed—or somehow expected—every individual Israelite to calculate his own time of the Molad of Tishri through the centuries. In contrast to the anarchy that would result from endless independent mindsets, the government of God guarantees order, peace and harmony. That is why God only delegated such responsibility to those capable of consistently carrying out their assigned duties with precision. This rationale certainly applied to how the detailed calendar calculations and observations were to be carried out. In ancient Israel, the general population trusted the Levites who were, entrusted by God with decisions and judgements pertaining to the calendar. Recognizing they were answerable to God, these Levites faithfully and accurately executed their responsibilities.

(2) When did God first authorize the use of postponements?

Some feel that since postponements were not mentioned in the Scriptures, they must have been an invention by certain malicious Jews. The Scriptures were recorded for the benefit of Israel, God’s Church and eventually all mankind. The calendar was probably recorded, but was properly and exclusively preserved by certain of the Levitical priesthood—not within Scripture. It has always been separate from the Scriptures! God’s word also does not define common or leap years, any more than they define 19-year time cycles or postponements. So, to assert that postponements are un scriptural and therefore illegal is begging the question, pure and simple!

Concerning the time when God first authorized the use of postponements, evidence indicates that they were in place from the beginning, when God presented the calendar to Moses for preservation by the Levitical priesthood. Consider rule two, which becomes necessary since the weekly cycle never meshes with the 29- or 30-day month. Since God made a provision that the weekly Sabbath was not to be adjacent to Atonement, such an adjustment became indispensable. This would have been just as applicable during the time of Moses, as it was thousands of years later.

Remember that the first, third and fourth postponement rules help assure mathematical accuracy and help to accommodate for all possible situations. They also help assure that only the six different year lengths will occur. Without these three mathematical postponements, the year lengths would not fall into the permissible range (from JCAL.txt file for: The Jewish Calendar; software for calculating calendar solutions). All available accounts indicate that the Hebrew years have always fallen within the permissible range. The postponements were obviously already in place.

Some falsely claim that the postponements were first implemented by Hillel II, in about A.D. 359.There is no proof of this whatsoever. It is well-documented that the calendar was made public at this time, for reasons mentioned earlier. Most authorities consider Hillel II a dedicated and orthodox Jewish patriarch, whose integrity in regard to the calendar was comparable to Ezra’s devotion as “a ready scribe in the law of Moses.”

We have already thoroughly covered the issue of the existence of postponements prior to the crucial event of Passover of A.D. 31. For this Passover to occur on a Wednesday instead of Monday in that year, postponement rules one and two would have had to have been in effect well before that time.

(3) Does the Hebrew calendar contradict or interfere with the timing of the Holy Days as given in Leviticus 23:1-44?

The Hebrew calendar merely shows when Tishri 1 will occur. After the conditions of the postponements are met, then Tishri 1—the Feast of Trumpets—is established, from which all of the other Holy Days are set. They are in complete harmony with Leviticus 23:1-44.

Closely examine the moon during the Feast of Trumpets. Weather permitting, you will observe the faint beginnings of the new moon in the evening sky. Realize that the exact observation of the new moon is determined from the area of Judea. But you should see a new moon a few hours after the fact, or perhaps a day removed, depending on your location. Then double-check the night sky on the opening night of the Feast of Tabernacles. You will find the big bright harvest moon glowing in full array. Likewise, you will see the full moon on the Night to be Observed, as the Days of Unleavened Bread begin.

The calendar is necessary in order to keep God’s Holy Days at the time He has established. Otherwise, there would be no benchmark with which to guarantee that we have our days precisely in order, as they were ordained. Thus, when God indicated that the month of Abib (Nisan) was to be the “beginning of months” for Israel (Exodus 12:2), there was no need to further define that month or the months that followed it. Such specific information was all defined by His calendar, which was later delivered to Israel shortly after the Exodus from Egypt.

(4) Can’t we just look to the Scriptures instead of depending on the Jews to determine when the Holy Days should be kept?

This is also somewhat “begging the question.” What such questioners are saying is that the Scriptures are worthy of trust but the Hebrew calendar is suspect. Without having to repeat every principle heretofore stated in this booklet, let’s look at the issue from the perspective of what the Scriptures tell us—and what they do not tell us. The Scriptures do not tell us how to determine the beginning of the year, nor do they tell us where to find the benchmark to do so. They do not explicitly show us the average length of a lunar month as being approximately 29 1/2 days. They do not show which months should be 30 days and which should be 29 days. They do not show us when to determine the leap years that are needed to keep the lunar and solar cycles in harmony with each other. God gave all this information in His sacred calendar to the Levites. They were entrusted to follow these details to the utmost—and they did!

Instead of being suspicious, we should feel relieved that He never required every man, woman, and child to memorize every detail. Recognize that sometimes it is better to delegate certain tasks to the specialists, although one may seek a general understanding of the procedure used. God knew this, and thus appointed certain of the priesthood with this responsibility. As a result, there was order, consistency and uniformity in regard to the calendar.

Remember that God entrusted the Levites, and later the Jews, to preserve the Scriptures, and the calendar. Why would some feel that God was able to see to it that the Scriptures were well-preserved (including the time of the Sabbath), but that He failed miserably when it came to the calendar? Do not fall for such weak, unfounded arguments!