Newsletter: 1st New Moon - Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Greetings
(Rosh Ha Shannah)
from HomeWorship 101™

The Crescent new moon over the North Pole.

“HE appointed the moon for seasons;…”
(literal Hebrew means “set times”)
Psalm 104:19
.
Rosh Hodesh ve-Rosh Hashanah Sameach!
(Happy New Moon and Happy New Year!)

Happy 'Rosh Ha Shannah'

You're probably wondering: Huh? Rosh Ha Shannah?!?!
Now? In the spring?!?!
.
That's correct, Happy New year!
The Bible is right - man is wrong.
Coming up in the next day or two,
is our CREATOR’S commanded New Year’s Day.

Aren't the Jews lucky? They have three new year celebrations: the secular Rosh Ha Shannah in September, the western new year on December 31, and one that gets hardly any mention at all is this Torah / Pentateuch / Bible / YHWH commanded new year. Recorded in 1Samuel 8:11-18, man rejected YHWH and decided to do it his way, but make-no-mistake, the spiritual events of our CREATOR, which will bring this world from chaos to eternity, will unfold on HIS timetable, and on HIS Holy Days, not a human designed system. The sad thing is, most Bible owners haven't got a clue - Satan has been busy corrupting knowledge (2Cor.4:4).

Many Christians who are discovering Messianic Christianity want to learn more about it. They write me and ask where they should begin to start learning. Here at the beginning of YHWH’s New Year is a great place to start. If one wants to follow YHWH’s Ancient Path it’s best to get on in the beginning. If we walk YHWH’s Ancient Path then HE will reveal HIS mysteries to us, HE will teach us, and lead us to HIS Heavenly Gates. What YHWH asks of us is that we should have the eagerness to learn, and the honor to live in HIS eternal ways.

This Biblical year that is ending is an intercalary year, meaning an extra month is added to the year, making the spring Holy Days a little later (and awkwardly making Easter very early). Our CREATOR’s New Year is based on the lunar cycle, with 354 days. Every three years, an extra month called Veadar or 2^ndAdar, is added between 12^th and 1^st month. When first barley, called the “Aviv Barley” is seen near Jerusalem, the next visible new – fingernail – moon begins YHWH’s New Year. This year the Aviv Barley has been first spotted on March 23^rd, and the upcoming new moon day is estimated for April 7^th (sighting on the eve of the 6^th). See my Biblical timekeeping web page: http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_days_timekeeping&calendar.htm

Some say having the new moon sightings announced from Jerusalem is immaterial because based on John 4:21-24, we do not have to look to Jerusalem for the signs. If you do not have access to outside information then looking to your local skies is the next best thing. Maybe in centuries past there was no news from Jerusalem, and one could look out in their local skies for the new moon, but I feel since the “Dry Bones” prophecies (Ezk.37:11-14) are currently being fulfilled with the rebirth of Israel, we should again begin to watch Israel and Jerusalem. Besides, with today’s Internet, information follows freely and in real time, so looking towards Jerusalem is a habit we should be getting into, because that is where the Bride of the Messiah will be setting up residence.

Holiday, or Holy Day, some wonder what’s the difference. But this year, for those who can see, the gap is very wide. This year Resurrection Sunday (aka. Easter), was on March 23, and Passover is estimated to be on April 20. Any Bible reader worth their salt knows that Yahshua/Jesus was not resurrected a month before he was killed (He was killed on Passover Day, after the Last Supper, and resurrected 3 days later). It is YHWH’s Holy Days we follow and HE controls the timetable, the crops, and the seasons. To confirm the beginning of the New Year YHWH made it easy enough for a Shepard boy to see the signs. All one has to do is go out into the fields and search for physical evidence of the ripening crops, and then watch for the crescent new moon – it our spiritual connection to HIS timetable and HIS “Appointed Times.”

The New Year is anxiously awaited because the beginning of YHWH’s New Year means the spring season of Holy Days (Leviticus ch.23) are near, and with that, for those who want to learn, HIS Spiritual Opera, taking humanity from chaos to eternity, will begin to play out on HIS Holy Days. The “set times” that the New Moon shows us are the “set times (days)” for the Holy Days of the spring season. They are Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits (aka Resurrection Sunday), and Pentecost, and they are all figured from the 1st New Moon Day of the 1st month. We observe them not out of legal religious obligation or salvation, but we look forward to learning from them, to seek to understand their higher Divine lessons, and to celebrate them. To learn more log on to: http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_days_intro.htm

Watch for the new moon, in the western sky near the setting sun shortly after sundown. It is first visible as a very thin crescent shape, with its two points facing up and left, called the waxing crescent moon, or some call it the fingernail moon. It does not hang around all night; it comes up quick and then disappears after a short while. This years 1^st New Moon's sighting was estimated for the evening of April 6, and the 1st new moon day would be dated April 7, then count 14 days to Passover, the start of the Holy Day season. (New year Exo.12:2; New moon Col.2:16; Sunset to sunset day Lev.23:32; Spring Season Holy Days Lev.23:4-22; "Observe the Month of the Abib..." Deu.16:1). For the current Holy Day dates log onto my calendar web page: http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_days_calendar.htm

For the do-it-yourselfer, with 2 clicks from my website, one can check the new moon sighting from anywhere in the Internet universe.

1) - On the bottom of my web pages in the Bible Study Tools section, click the solar phase link, or http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Earth/action?opt=-p, to see when the evening shadow falls over Jerusalem.

2) - When it does, click the moon phase link, or http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Earth/action?opt=-m&img=Moon.evif, to see the phase of the moon. It takes a 2-4% moon to be seen by the faithful from the ground and that determines the first day of the lunar month.

REMEMBER:
These are NOT Jewish 'holidays.'
These are 'Holy Days,'
the "appointed times" of YHWH.

Some folks always tell me that’s all just for the Jews. The trouble is that the Jews do not observe this Torah commanded New Year, so how can it be just a Jewish thing? Want to prove a spiritual truth? Read the Bible, it is easy to understand that the New Year begins in the spring, now watch for how many people talk about it. Do you hear about it in the news? Do you hear about it in the Synagogues? Do you hear about it in the churches? Do you hear about in the Bible study classes? No! Ask around about it, see how many people ignore it or try to talk around it. When you see the Crescent New Moon, stop for a moment and look around you, see all the people going to and fro, and have no idea what is in the sky above them. (Now take a moment to say a quick prayer of thanks to YHWH for opening up your mind to HIS signs.) What the world ignores is the real truth of YHWH, and this YHWH commanded New Year is a shining example – the silence of the “religious & secular” world is deafening.

As I often say, YHWH’s Holy Days are more then just a religious tradition, for those who can see, they are multifaceted spiritual lessons. Year before last, I talked about how the Covenants are seen in the Holy Days. Last year I touched on the subject of how some Tribulation era prophecies might culminate on Holy Days. The key to really understanding Bible Prophecy are YHWH’s Holy Days, you will never figure out prophecy without understanding them. Spiritual speaking, everything important that has happened and will happen, will happen on these Holy Days. And what happens on these Holy Days does not only affect only the Jews or Messianic believers, but the entire world population, and HIS wise Bride would be watching for the signs of her betroth (Mat.25:1-13). I’ll highlight some of the better-known events during this year’s Holy Day newsletters – they prove that one is walking on YHWH’s true Ancient Path.

“Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,'
and do not do the things which I say?” - Luke 6:46

It's a no-brainer, regarding the spirit; you gotta get behind something that endures forever! The "appointed times" listed in Leviticus chapter 23, are Holy because they are the Holy Convocations ordained by our CREATOR for a-l-l humanity. Four times the chapter states these Holy Days will endure forever! Furthermore, the head of the New Covenant faith, Yahshua-Jesus, observed these Holy Days and so did His Apostles, and so should His followers!

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. The theme of YHWH'S first Holy season is: Start Your New Year Off Right!!! That means one is encouraged to do some spiritual housekeeping. We all stumble on the Path sometimes, and now is the time to do a little spiritual spring-cleaning - clean out the bad doctrines of men and embrace YHWH’s Divine wisdom.

I often jokingly say, just because I gave up on the Pope's holidays, doesn't necessarily mean I jump in bed with the Jews, so to speak, they have their “religious’' problems too. I refer to these Holy Days as YHWH'S Grand Spiritual Opera bringing a-l-l humanity from chaos to eternity. For those who can see, these Holy Days are a treasure trove of spiritual lessons that armors our faith. Many people miss the fact that these Holy Days prove that YHWH is in charge of the Universe, and that there is hope for a-l-l our futures.

In the spirit of Daniel 12:4, "...knowledge shall increase in the end times."
In the past and present, learning or teaching the higher truths of our CREATOR, have caused wars and family conflicts. Stay the course; no mere mortal can suppress the truth of our CREATOR.

Enjoy the journey of learning…

Please remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for all those who stand with Israel (Ps.122).

Take care. Peace and blessings, Errol.
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Errol Mueller, chronicler extraordinaire
e-mail: errol@homeworship101.com
website: www.homeworship101.com
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WSC Newsletter 2008-03, posted 04/05/08.

Copyright © 2008 Errol Mueller. All rights reserved. Short quotations, page copying, or redistribution for personal or non-commercial group study is permitted and encouraged, provided they are copied in total with no alterations or deletions. Author’s name, website address, and copyright notice must be included. If any other use is desired, written permission is required.
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Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.

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