The Calendar as Presented to Moses

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When God revealed the calendar to Moses, certain adjustments would most likely have been already accounted for by this time—about 880 years removed from the flood. This calendar had to be accurate since certain Holy Days were to be observed on specific days in designated months—at a precise time of the year. In order to observe these days at the correct time, the solar and lunar cycles had to be reconciled. God, as Creator, guided this process as He inspired those whom He entrusted with this responsibility.

The great Eternal God is capable of expanding the abilities and skills of those whom He appoints for special assignments, just as He did with Bezaleel of the tribe of Judah, involved in the construction of the tabernacle: “And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship to devise cunning works, to work in gold and silver and brass and in the cutting of stones...and in carving of timber...” (Exod. 31:3-5).

God was fully capable of instilling this unusual talent within Bezaleel and the skilled men that assisted him—men already gifted in certain ways. This same God was capable of inspiring various priests, gifted with mathematical minds, with the skills of being able to implement adjustments in the calendar to keep the solar and lunar cycles in harmony. Basic concepts of astronomy and the movements of the solar system were understood at that time—three millennia before the time of Copernicus.

The sacred calendar as presented to Moses was passed on to the priests and certain Levites. Acts 7:38 explains: “This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spoke to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us.” Next, notice who was commissioned to preserve those “lively oracles”: “What advantage then has the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yes, let God be true, but every man a liar...”(Rom. 3:1-4).

What are the oracles of God? They consist of the Scriptures, the Sabbath and God’s sacred calendar. Some mistakenly reject the Hebrew calendar because they insist upon only looking to the Scriptures for guidance—not the Jews. Yet, it was God who entrusted the Jews to preserve the calendar and the Scriptures! (The Jews preserved the Law, Prophets and Psalms—known as the Old Testament—while the Greeks preserved the manuscripts from the apostolic era of the Church known as the New Testament.) Such doubters are essentially accusing God of being incapable of preserving the calendar intact.

What about you? Do you accept the Scriptures as authentic—as preserved by the Jews? If so, then would you not also accept that God is able to use the same human instruments to preserve the calendar?

The calendar that God presented to Moses became the responsibility of certain appointed Levitical priests and, centuries later, the Jews. We often refer to the calendar in honour of its source—God’s sacred calendar. In reference to the hundreds of years of this calendar as used by ancient Israel, it is also called the Hebrew calendar. Many currently refer to the most recent versions as the Jewish calendar. We will reference the calendar by all these terms, depending upon the context of each reference. Throughout history, this calendar was essentially the same, yet, various adjustments became necessary. This was to implement across many centuries a harmonizing of variations between the solar and lunar cycles.

Introductory Overview of the Calendar

We begin the overview of the calendar by examining some of the basic facts about the Roman calendar in use today. The Julian calendar was set up in 45 B.C., and recognized the solar year as being 365 1/4 days. However, this calendar was 12 minutes and 14 seconds off per year, which amounted to well over a 10-day error by the year 1582. Thus, ten days were dropped from the calendar so that it would correspond more closely to the solar year. The newly established Gregorian calendar not only served to diminish the existing error, but helped to compensate for future errors by adding a leap year. Interestingly, it was not until 1752 that the English (and the American Colonies) adopted the Gregorian calendar. The leap year set by the Gregorian calendar adds one day every four years, except in even 100 years that cannot be divided by 400. Thus, for the years 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2000, only the years 1600 and 2000 could be leap years.

The Gregorian calendar compensates by 72 hours (3 days) every 400 years. The actual excess accumulated is 74 hours, 53 minutes and 20 seconds—an error of 2 hours, 53 minutes and 20 seconds every 400 years—one full day every 3,323 years. We will sometimes refer to the Roman calendar as the Julian or Julian/Gregorian, depending upon how the term is used by the references cited.

For a calendar to measure only the solar years makes it infinitely simpler than the Hebrew Calendar which harmonizes the lunar as well as the solar year. Note that the Julian/Gregorian calendar drifts off course by one full day off in 3,323 years. It is completely ironic that the Hebrew calendar which has a number of both coarse and fine adjustments in order to harmonize with both the solar and lunar cycles is accused of lacking the precision achieved by the crude (by comparison) Gregorian calendar.

Consider that from the time the sacred calendar was presented to Moses to the present is a span of approximately 3,450 years. Some critics charge that the Hebrew calendar is not only days off track, but months off, or worse. Which is it? The critics do not know. They are only assured that the less you know, the better their chances of sowing doubt.

Precisely every 19 years (19-year cycles will be discussed later), the Hebrew calendar is given a reliability test. If it were ever out of sync with the 19 year time cycle, then many would stand ready to announce this imperfection. Yet, all we hear is silence. In recent centuries, the calendar has always accurately meshed with the 19-year cycles as it must have done anciently, due to adjustments that were implemented for this very purpose.

During the 3,450 years since Moses, adjustments have had to be added to the calendar to compensate for alterations in the orbital clock caused by such events as mentioned earlier. Yet, about 1975 years ago, during the time of Christ’s ministry on earth, He kept the Holy Days at the same time as the Jews, never pointing out any discrepancy in the Jewish calendar. Had the calendar been in error, He would have made it known. Yet, concerning any alleged error concerning the calendar, Christ was silent.

The point to be made here is this: If the Gregorian calendar can continue 3323 years before missing a day, should not the Hebrew calendar (with its built-in methods to keep it from drifting off track) continue 1975 years with the same level of accuracy?

It should be mentioned here that the Julian/Gregorian calendar mentioned earlier, or any other man-made calendar—and this should be obvious—was never a factor in the Hebrew calendar calculations in ancient times. Comparison with the Julian calendar in most modern works on that subject is merely for the purpose of referencing one calendar in terms of the other. This would be equivalent to translating back and forth between two languages today.

Recognize that all calendars either gain or lose time. Therefore, corrective measures must be taken, such as leap years and other adjustments, to periodically correct any discrepancies. Great care has to be taken to keep the Hebrew calendar in perfect harmony with the lunar cycle, since the Holy Days must occur at a precise time. The solar accuracy is of secondary importance, but is kept in harmony by periodic adjustments, as well.

By way of reference, much of the information pertaining to calculations in the text, as well as the Appendix, is in accordance with The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar by Arthur Spier, 1952. Other references include The Hebrew Calendar: A Mathematical Introduction, prepared by Kossey and edited by Hoeh, 1974 and The Encyclopedia Britannica 11th edition, vol. 4, under entry: “Hebrew Calendar.”

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