It Was A Riddle Not A Command

Listen to this Podcast discussing one of Joseph’s most popular books.

You Can Learn the Secret Meaning of:

No One Knows the Day of the Hour

 Why does no One Know When Jesus was born?

When Does the Thief in the Night Come?

Why Are the Foolish Virgins Rejected?

No One Knows The Day or The Hour is a Hebrew idiom or parable.

Jesus spoke in parables to conceal His message which He later explained to the Apostles.

No One Knows The Day or the Hour is telling you the very day He will come back on! 

The exact opposite to what you thought it said!

This is the very same day when He first came.

The Book of Revelation Tells you the very day and hour He was born.

You are given clues in Revelation about the thief that comes in the night, about being caught naked and ashamed. All of these clues tell you about the very day He is coming back.

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians telling them they had no need to write them about the Day of the Lord

FOR THEY KNEW FULL WELL THE MOEDIM!!!

Knowing the Moedim shows you the Day and Hour No Man Can Know.

We are also told about the Two Witnesses in the Book of Revelation…
What revelations do the Two Witnesses show you about the birth of Jesus?

There was a heavenly Host praising God when Jesus was born.
This, too, tells you the Day He was born.

Are you aware that the 5 Foolish Virgins did not understand what the Thief in the Night was?
Do You?

All these questions and so much more are explained in detail.
It was a Riddle for us to figure out.
It was not a command that we could not know.
We can KNOW.
YOU Can Know!

Thoroughly researched and profoundly significant!

5.0 out of 5 stars

There just isn’t a better book on Christian prophecy than this! What an eye opener!

Of the many books and articles that I have read on prophecy in my personal search for truth, this is the only one that does not rely on old ideas that were developed hundreds of years ago when knowledge was minimal. So much more has been learned through historical and archeological research. The world has changed so much that before now no one could have clearly envisioned how prophecy might play out.

I think the average Christian doesn’t realize that recent developments in technology and huge increases in knowledge offer us a unique opportunity to raise the veil so that we might see clearly what was once hidden behind a dark glass.

After learning about these things and seriously considering the Bible, with a willingness to set aside my traditional beliefs about prophecy, I have come to the conclusion that this book is inspired by God. Mr. Dumond presents compelling information that overturns long held assumptions and unverified beliefs making the entire body of prophetic knowledge fully accessible. As a matter of fact I think that just about anyone with no previous knowledge of the Bible would understand things that scholars have devoted their lives to explaining.

I would like everyone to know what is being shown in the pages of this book. No serious truth seeker should pass up the opportunity to have their eyes opened through its revelations. I believe it is the most important book ever written,- next to the Bible itself.

Thank you Joseph Dumond.

Amazon Customer: Ross Boraan

Order your copy Today!

The Stones Cry Out Part 1 & Part 2

Do you want to know how to prove the Zadok Calendar, the Enoch Calendar, and the Book of Jubilee Calendar false?

Do you want to know how the calendar issue became so confusing?

I got this awesome endorsement and I want to share it here now. with you.

In The Stones Cry Out, I walk you through the history of each change and why those changes came about, starting with the Maccabean days. Yes, it all began around 164 B.C. When Yehshua was here, he was dealing with two schools of thought. The Sadducees were all but wiped out when the Temple fell in 70 C.E. This left only the Pharisees, who began to be persecuted after the failure of the Bar Kochbah Revolt in 134 C.E.

The truth began to become out of focus around 160 C.E. when Rabbi Jose wrote the Seder Olam. This work originally was written to proof Simon Bar Kochbah was the Messiah. When that did not pan out the history was later revived and then redacted as the truth into the Mishneh Torah by Rabbi Judah ha Nasi in 180 C.E. After this the Jerusalem Talmud begins to debate these issues. It was then during this time as the Jerusalem Talmudist are forced to flee and the Babylonian Talmudist continue to grow until the 6th century that Hillel came up with a solution to help them keep the Holy Days at the proper time while they were out of the land of Israel. He did this in 358 C.E. This work was then modified and adjusted over the next 800 years with additions added and other rejected. Until it was finally redacted once again in 1177 by Rambam. And with that we now have the modern Hillel calendar which includes the errors passed on during each redaction. These errors included the time of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years.

Once the Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E., the Jews recorded time by counting from the time It was destroyed. This is why the 40 tombstones of Zoar, which record this information, are crucial to understand.

When you understand why the Postponement rules were first created so that the crescent moon would not be seen in another part of the world before it was seen in Israel then you can understand how they were still trying to follow the crescent moon to begin the month. The Tombstones show us this exact thing. The tombstones also show us when the Jews changed from a crescent moon to a Conjunction moon to begin the month. They also show us when the Jews changed the year from the month of Aviv to the Tishri to begin the year.

I really want you to understand these things so you know why you do what you do as far as following a calendar to keep Yehovah’s moedim.
Get your Free copies of The Stones Cry Out Part 1 and Part 2 here https://sightedmoon.com/the-stones-cry-out-lp/

And share this information with your FB friends and Bibles Study groups. If they don’t like it, it never cost them anything.

Get your copy today. If you want a paperback copy, I have them on Amazon for the least amount they would let me post them there. Order both of them and start to understand the history of how these changes affect those who follow Yehovah and keep His Feasts.

I would like to add this recent comment to encourage you all to get this book and learn these truths. And the Book is FREE. You have no reason not to get it.

Most people assume that Hillel created the calendar in 358 C.E. They then assume that because it was a Sanhedrin, they are not allowed to change in order to obey Yehovah. The Hillel calendar has been changed many times since 358 C.E. up until 1177 C.E. Few people talk about these changes but we do in our latest Book The Stones Cry Out Part 1 which is free on our website. The Hillel calendar was changed on many occasions and many sought to make other changes during this time. They never needed a Bet Din to approve those changes. They just did them. So this excuse that we do not have the right to obey Yehovah because the Bet Din has not approved it is a crock of crap.
You have the obligation to obey Yehovah. You have the duty to prove which calendar you are to go by. You must prove it beyond all doubt. Yehshua never followed the Hillel calendar. Nor did any of the Apostles.
The reason no man can know the day or the hour is because it refers to a crescent moon to begin the 7th month. That is the day He was born on and the day He comes to judge on. At a day and hour no one can know. Using the Hillel calendar predicts Yom Teruah years in advance so every one knows when to keep it. But even in the Hillel calendar they keep two days of Yom Teruah reckoning back to the sighted moon. Also in the postponement rules developed long after Hillel, they again state that if the conjunction is at a certain time then the day begins at such and such, in order that the moon will not be seen in another part of the world before it is seen in Israel. That was rule number 2.
Everyone has to choose. You have the right to be wrong. But if you choose to be wrong then you also must live with the consequences that come with sin. And that is the death penalty for not keeping the Holy Days, these Sabbath at the proper time. It is your choice.
Just because you write in to me to justify your position does mean it is right. It just means your sounding off.

Allow me to share this endorsement of our latest book again. If you have read our books, please share your thoughts about them with us in the comments below or email me.

And yes, many observe the Equinox.  There are many who are deceived, improperly educated.  And this is why Joe puts out a newsletter every week, why he writes books, why the SightedMoon Zoom Shabbat service started, why he travels to places like England and the Philippines to share this message and why were are going to the NRB in February.  The calendar is always a divisive issue in social circles because the details are many, that’s why there are so many books Joe has written.  I’m not looking to put Joe on a pedestal here.  This is not about Joe worship.  But Joe has tenaciously studied out the calendar from every angle, not to prove himself right, to to seek to find and share what Yehovah is telling us about His Calendar.

In The Stones Cry Out, Joe has shared the history of all the different groups within Israel, and the beliefs they had about the scriptures and the feast days and the calendar.  When you line it all up, you can see for yourself the how and why these misunderstandings and arguments about how and where and why  they came about.

This is my new favourite book and I’m only 60-70 pages in.  And I encourage you to read the footnotes in this one.  Sometimes there’s more footnote on the page than Joe’s words.

Sombra Wilson

When I wrote Stones Cry Out, I wanted it to be one of our FREE books so everyone would have it. It is more of an encyclopedia than a book to read. It will be your quick resource book; you will have access to every question about any calendar, how it got started, and who started it. You will also learn the history of how the Mishnah was assembled, when it was assembled and why. Then, you will learn how that information was transferred into both the Jerusalem and the Babylonian Talmud until it reached its final stage in the Mishneh Torah. Along with this progression, the calendar also progressed and changed long after 358 C.E. when Rabbi Hillel first published it. But…what was before the Hillel calendar? What does the Mishnah record about those things?

The Stones Cry Out was originally going to be one book explaining all the various proofs we have discovered, demonstrating when the Sabbatical and Jubilee years are throughout history.

You can know; it is not a mystery.

As I began to write The Stones Cry Out, I quickly found myself going back, time and time again, to explain how the calendar is behind the confusion of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. The Rabbis, as they began to write the Mishnah, incorporated wrong understandings, and those errors were written into what became known as the Talmud and then the Mishneh Torah. The expulsion from the land and subsequent persecutions in trying to send out messengers to report the barley being found or the crescent moon being seen, proved to be more and more dangerous over time. All of these things took place over 14 centuries.

Then as I was working on The Stones Cry Out, I discovered that many people were now accepting the Zadok calendar as factual. This is when we pivoted to include all the details of the various calendars that have crept back into public knowledge today and are being used to mislead new people who are just starting to learn about the calendar. All of this was directly connected to the period starting with the Hasmonaeans, up to the destruction of the Temple. Then, with the compiling of the Mishnah, the studies that led into the writing of the Jerusalem Talmud, then the Babylonian Talmud and finally the Mishneh Torah, each error that was added is compounded over time.

The Stones Cry Out, Part 1 explains the history of how each compilation of the Oral Torah incorporated errors, leading the followers thereof away from the actual Torah. In understanding these facts, it is then possible to understand more readily how the Sabbatical and Jubilee years were then mixed and later changed. By explaining all this history, I will be able to help you the reader understand the tombstones when most authorities do not. They have assumed, to their error, the Hillel calendar to have always been in use since Mount Sinai. Not understanding the history of the calendars is why most authorities dismiss the tombstones as too confusing to use. Once you understand The Stones Cry Out Part 1, Part 2 will be very easy to grasp.

Daniel 7:25 tells us he will change the appointed seasons and commandments. Many assume Constantine did this when he made Sunday the Sabbath. Few have considered the calendar’s many changes and how they relate to us today. Hidden in this proverbial swamp of confusion is the truth about the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. The Sabbatical and Jubilee years reveal the truths about the calendar that have been hidden for almost 2000 years.

We are in the very last days and Yehshua warned us that during this time:

Mat 24:10 And then many will be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another.

Mat 24:11 And many false prophets will rise and deceive many.

Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many will become cold.

Mat 24:13 But he who endures to the end, the same shall be kept safe.

Paul also warned Timothy about these last days, warning that some would leave the truth and begin to follow demonic teachers:

1Ti 4:1 But the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons,

Paul again warned the Thessalonians that the Great Falling away would take place in the last days. How can you fall away if you have never come to know the truth? So who is Paul talking to? Those who are called and answer that calling begin to walk this road of restoration back to Yehovah, and then at some point along that walk, they change and leave this walk following the teachings of demons to false calendar.

2Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, my brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,

2Th 2:2 that you should not be soon shaken in mind or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word or letter, as through us, as if the Day of Christ is at hand.

2Th 2:3 Let not anyone deceive you by any means. For that Day shall not come unless there first comes a falling away, and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition,

2Th 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself forth, that he is God.

We must endure until the end. We must not let ourselves become offended by personalities and leave the faith once given.

I want you all to have access to and the ability to read this book and use it as a reference. https://sightedmoon.com/the-stones-cry-out-lp/ Click on the link fill in the form and you will have access to the FREE PDF anywhere in the world. If you want a copy you can hold in your hands we have published it at Amazon for the lowest price they would allow us. Order you copy after Shabbat and begin to read it today.

A big thanks to our very first underwriter of the podcast. Joseph Dumond is an international speaker. He teaches the ancient roots of the Gaelic people at Sightedmoon.com.

You’ll hear me mention him in each episode of the podcast at the end of the show. This is not exactly advertising. It’s awareness promotion. I have no more than four more slots available every month if you, your business or your band want to be mentioned as an underwriter of the podcast.

Join Our Sabbath Meetings

There are many people in need of fellowship and who are sitting at home on the Sabbath with no one to talk to or debate with. I want to encourage all of you to join us on Shabbat, and to invite others to come and join us as well. If the time is not convenient then you can listen to the teaching and the midrash after on our YouTube channel.

What are we doing and why do we teach this way?

We are going to discuss both sides of an issue and then let you choose. It is the work of the Ruach (Spirit) to direct and to teach you.

The medieval commentator Rashi wrote that the Hebrew word for wrestle (avek) implies that Jacob was “tied”, for the same word is used to describe knotted fringes in a Jewish prayer shawl, the tzitzityot. Rashi says, “thus is the manner of two people who struggle to overthrow each other, that one embraces the other and knots him with his arms”.

Our intellectual wrestling has been replaced by a different kind of struggle. We are wrestling with Yehovah as we grapple with His Word. It is an intimate act, symbolizing a relationship in which Yehovah and you and I are bound together. My wrestling is a struggle to discover what Yehovah expects of us, and we are “tied” to the One who assists us in that struggle.

Today, many say Israel means “Champion of God”, or better — the “Wrestler of God”.

Our Torah sessions each Shabbat teaches you and encourages you to constantly challenge, question, argue against, as well as view alternative views and explanations of the Word. In other words, we are to “wrestle with the Word” to get to the truth. Jews worldwide believe that you need to wrestle with the Word and constantly challenge Dogma, Theology, and views or else you will never get to the Truth.

We are not like most churches where “The preacher talks and everyone listens.” We encourage everyone to participate, to question and to contribute what they know on the subject being discussed. We want you to be a champion wrestler of the Word of Yehovah. We want you to wear the title of Israel, knowing that you not only know but are capable of explaining why you know the Torah to be true with logic and facts.

We have a few rules though. Let others talk and listen. There is no discussion about UFO’s, Nephilim, Vaccines or conspiracy-type subjects. We have people from around the world with different world views. Not everyone cares who is the President of any particular country. Treat each other with respect as fellow wrestlers of the word. Some of our subjects are hard to understand and require you to be mature and if you do not know, then listen to gain knowledge and understanding and hopefully wisdom. The very things you are commanded to ask Yehovah for and He gives to those who ask.

Jas 1:5  But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and with no reproach, and it shall be given to him.

We hope you can invite those who want to keep Torah to come and join us by hitting the link below. It is almost like a Torah teaching fellowship talk show with people from around the world taking part and sharing their insights and understandings.

We start off with some music and then some prayers and it’s as though you were sitting around the kitchen back in Newfoundland having a cup of coffee and all of us enjoying each other’s company. I hope you will grace us with your company someday.

Sabbath services begin at 12:30 PM EDT where we will be doing prayers, songs and teaching from this hour.

Shabbat midrash will begin at about 1:15 pm Eastern.

We look forward to you joining our family and getting to know us as we get to know you.

Joseph Dumond is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Joseph Dumond’s Personal Meeting Room

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NRB Update

On Monday, Feb 17, 2026, Kim arranged for us to tour the Ron Wyatt Museum with Mary Nell, who has several artifacts from Noah’s Ark and Mount Sinai. This was a very special monring to see so man thing of the original. The laminated floor blank. The rivet. and many other things.

We arrived at 1 PM to begin setting up our booth, as we were told we could. We got our 7 tables offloaded and sent the two cars to go and get the rest of the banners and equipment. By the time they got back, the GES dock staff had shown up, and only those who came through the docks and weighed all the equipment could enter to build their booths. So we could not do any more than what we had done that day.

Everywhere we went, we began to see Noah events

Thank you for reaching out Joseph. OK, glad to stop by to visit your booth. I am looking for film platforms for my clients’ new apocalyptic film, JesusFreaksMovie.com if you are interested, let me know.

New Moon of the 1st or 13th Month

“Tekufah-Equinox”

After last weeks Newsletter about the Barley being Aviv, I had one lady write me the following note. I have included my response which I have taken from Karaite Korner.

It does require the sun to warm the earth in order for the barley to grow. Hence the when it says in Gen 1:14

Gen 1:14  And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to divide between the day and the night. And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years.

That word seasons is for the Feasts. For the shepherd in the field, without doing any mathematical calculations, all they have to do is watch for the barley to be ripe, which is caused by the sun. As we showed you last week, you must have barley in order to make the wave sheaf offering. People keep forgetting this one law. You must have barley in order to make the wave offering that is made from the first fruits of barley. You cannot harvest anything until you make this wave offering.

Lev 23:9  And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 10  Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap the harvest of it, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 11  And he shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah to be received for you. On the next day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12  And you shall offer that day when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering to Jehovah. 13  And its food offering shall be two-tenths part of fine flour mixed with oil, a fire offering to Jehovah for a sweet savor. And the drink offering of it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. 14  And you shall eat neither bread, nor parched grain, nor green ears, until the same day, until you have brought an offering to your God. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Let me say it again LOUD AND CLEAR.

YOU MUST HAVE BARLEY TO MAKE THE WAVE OFFERING ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, DURING THE DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD. IT MUST BE THE ‘FIRST FRUITS’ NOT THE LAST FRUITS OF THE BARLEY. THEREFORE THE BARLEY MUST BE AT THE BEGINNING OF ITS RIPENESS IN ORDER TO BE FIRST FRUITS.

You cannot make the wave offering based on the equinox, because the equinox never determines if the barley is ripe or not.

Some claim you cannot have Passover if it comes before the Equinox. Not true. We have had Passover before the spring equinox because the barley was aviv. Others claim the first moon after the equinox is when you count to Passover. Some of these are this year abandoning the Hebrew Calendar in favour of the equinox calendar. They have now become hypocrites to their own rules. Rules which the Hebrew calendar uses since the 12th century ratified by Rambam, which are not found in Torah. Again watch our video on The Blood Moons or get the e-book to learn the history of the calendar and when these things were changed and added to it.

Some, in their ignorance, claim the barley in Egypt is different than that of Israel. I have a vineyard on the Egyptian border. 100 Yards from the border. It is in the same area that Jacob, Isaac and Abraham lived. It is just over a few hours drive to Jerusalem going directly east and a little north east.. The barley in Egypt would have grown at almost the exact same time as the barley around Jerusalem. It would be the same as comparing crops in Eastern Ontario that are growing about the same time as those in Western Ontario. This argument about how they could tell when they are in Egypt is so telling of the lack of understanding some have.

Joseph Dumond , I wish you would take a look at the idea of the new moon after the equinox as the start of the new year. Gen 1:14 gives us the heavenly luminaries as our signs for knowing when Yah’s set apart times are to be observed. There is no abib barley in his heavens. The barley is an earthly witness that will always be in agreement when we go by the first new moon after the spring equinox. When the abib barley is talked about in scripture (Moses), the children of Israel were not in Israel but still in Egypt. So they were not going by the abib barley in Israel. I pray you will consider this in keeping with the responsibility you bear to the people who listen to you as a teacher. Please make sure what you are teaching is true, Joseph. This is coming from a loving sister. I mean no disrespect. I ask that you would prayerfully consider this. Thank you.

I am saying this here, which I did not say in my response and this is not due to the email above but is said in general in response to the many other emails I do get.

As a teacher…..as one who worships and fears Yehovah ,….as one who bears the weight Yehovah has placed on me to warn the people…..as one who seeks the truth and whose desire is to be at the wedding supper with my husband Yehovah…..I have searched and been prodded by Ephramites and Hebrew roots people for 10 years over the calendar issues, many of them fracturing into their own petty little groups claiming to all be the one and only true followers of what ever sacred name and calendar they have learned. Speaking when they should be silent and studying more. Teaching when they have only learned half of the truth in order to satisfy their own shallow understandings. I have seen more disgusting behaviour from the “brethren” than I have from among the Christians or the Jews. And I am ashamed many times because of the “brethren”.

We have shared this before in a recent News Letter.

Rom 1:21  Because, knowing God, they did not glorify Him as God, neither were thankful. But they became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22  Professing to be wise, they became fools 23  and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things. 24  Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. 25  For they changed the truth of God into a lie, and they worshiped and served the created thing more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Psa 81:10  I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11  But My people would not listen to My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. 12  So I gave them up to the stubbornness of their own hearts; and they walked in their own conceits. 13  Oh that My people had listened to Me, and Israel had walked in My ways! 14  I would soon have humbled their enemies, and would have turned My hand against their foes.

Act 7:41  And they made a calf in those days and offered sacrifice to the idol and rejoiced in the work of their own hands. 42  Then God turned and gave them over to serve the host of the heavens, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: “O house of Israel, have you offered to Me slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness?

Act 14:14  But hearing this, the apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their clothes and ran in among the people, crying out 15  and saying, Men, why do you do these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preaching the gospel to you to turn you from these vanities to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all things in them; 16  who in past generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. 17  And yet He did not leave Himself without witness, doing good, giving rain and fruitful season to us from heaven, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of lawlessness is already working, only he is now holding back until it comes out of the midst. 8  And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming, 9  whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10  and with all deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, so that they might be saved. 11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, 12  so that all those who do not believe the truth, but delight in unrighteousness, might be condemned.

All of this ties right back to the Jubilee cycles which Yehovah is about to finish and complete His word about.

Gen 6:3  And Jehovah said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, in his erring; he is flesh. Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

Yehovah is not going to put up with our constantly erring against His will and His Torah. But because we will not obey and we put more trust in our own wisdom and not His, He has given some over to be deceived by their own lusts of knowledge. This time is coming to a close and when we reach that 120th Jubilee in the year 2045 Yehovah will have said enough of this foolishness and our Anointed King David will rule over us and help us to get our spots out during the 7th Millennium. Only after that will we be ready for the wedding to Yehovah.

Getting the calendar right is important. Study to show yourself approved, for the time is late and the night comes when no one can work.

Q: Doesn’t Genesis 1:14 show that the Vernal Equinox, not the barley, determine the holy day seasons?

We read in Gen 1:14

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven, to divide between the day and the night and they will be for signs and for times (Moedim) and for days and for years.”

From this verse it is not clear what is dependent on what. Certainly no mention of the Vernal Equinox is made. Perhaps the year is dependent on the moon or the stars? If the year is dependent on the sun, then what about the sun effects the beginning of the year? Gen 1:14 does not specify these things so we must turn to other Biblical passages to get a more precise understanding of the Biblical calendar. In Dt 16:1 we read:

“Keep the month of the Abib and make the Passover (sacrifice) to YHWH your God at night, because in the month of Abib YHWH your God took you out of Egypt”

Similarly we read:

“You will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you will eat unleavened bread, as have I commanded you, at the time of the month of the Abib, because in the month of the Abib you went out of Egypt.” (Ex 34:18)

The word “Abib” refers to barley which has reached a certain stage in its development. This meaning of Abib is preserved in the verse:

“And the flax and the barley were smitten, because the barley was Abib and the flax was Giv’ol. And the wheat and the spelt were not smitten because they were dark (Afilot).” (Ex 9:31-32)

To keep the Passover Sacrifice in the Month of the Abib requires taking the Abib (ripening barley) as an indicator of the beginning of the year. This is entirely consistent with Gen 1:14, for the ripening of the barley is dependent on the seasons of the year and therefore indirectly is controlled by the sun. Central factors, which cause the barley to ripen, are the lengthening of the days and the increasing sunlight, changes in humidity, and other factors which affect the environment. Therefore, it is the sun, which indirectly causes the barley to ripen, and thereby acts as an indicator of years. It is this indirect effect which causes the barley to become Abib which Gen 1:14 is referring to when it says the sun and moon will be for years.

It should be noted that the equinox is never mentioned in the entire Hebrew Bible. Gen 1:14, which has often been cited as proof of the equinox theory, does not mention the equinox either. On the contrary, the use of astronomical calculations for determining the time of the equinox, was in this period synonymous with the idolatrous practice of fortune telling and was certainly not practiced in ancient Israel (Isa 47:13).

Doesn’t Josephus say that the New Year is determined based on the “1st of Aries”?

The “1st of Aries” is a reference to the Vernal Equinox and as seen above the Pharisees determined the New Year based on 3 factors, one of which was the Vernal Equinox. In his autobiography, Josephus himself informs us that he is a Pharisee, so it is not surprising that he should quote the Pharisee practice of intercalation. As is Josephus’ practice he only gives the details of which would be comprehensible to his pagan Greek readers. In this case Josephus does not mention the agricultural indicators of the New Year [according to the Pharisees the Abib and the Fruits] and only refers to the astrological indicators which his pagan audience would have been able to relate to. Josephus’ repeating the Pharisee position on intercalation does not give it any more credence.

Vernal Equinox and Tekufah

Q: Is the equinox (Tekufah) mentioned in the Tanach (Hebrew Bible)?

The claim has been made by proponents of the equinox calendar theory that the word equinox actually appears in the Tanach. They are referring to the word Tekufah or Tequfah which appears in the Hebrew Bible four times. Tekufah is in fact the post-Biblical word for “equinox”, however, it never has the meaning of “equinox” in the Tanach. In Biblical Hebrew, Tekufah retains its literal meaning of “circuit”, that is something which returns to the same point in time or space [from the root Nun.Quf.Pe. meaning “to go around”]. To claim that Tekufah means equinox in the Tanach, just because it had this meaning in later Hebrew, is an anchronism. This would be like saying that there were handguns in ancient Israel because the word EKDACH, the post-Biblical Hebrew word for handgun, appears in Isaiah 54:12. Let us consider another example of this anachronistic use of language: Before the invention of the electronic computer during World War II, the word “computer” referred to a man who sat at a desk calculating (computing) mathematical equations. Imagine if we found an 18th century document mentioning “computers” and proclaimed to the world that there were really electronic computers in the 18th century. This is exactly what the equinox-followers are doing with the word Tekufah. To better understand this, let us consider the four appearances of Tekufah in the Tanach.

Tekufah in Exodus 34:22

The first appearance of Tekufah is in the list of Pilgrimage-Feasts (Hagim) in Ex 34:22 which refers to the agricultural character of the Feast of Booths (Sukkot):

“And the Feast of Ingathering at the circuit of the year (Tekufat HaShannah).”

Being mislead by the Post-Biblical Hebrew meaning of Tekufah, some have interpreted “circuit of the year” anachronistically to refer to the Autumnal Equinox (it is doubtful whether the ancient Israelites even knew of the equinox and they certainly had no way of calculating when it would be). This anachronistic reading leads to the suggestion of fixing the beginning of the year so that Sukkot (The Feast of Ingathering) falls out at the time of the Autumnal Equinox. However, a closer investigation shows that “circuit of the year” has nothing to do with the equinox. The list of Pilgrimage-Feasts also appears in a parallel passage in Ex 23:16 which describes Sukkot as follows:

“And the Feast of Ingathering at the going out of the year (Tzet HaShannah), when you have gathered in your work from the field.”

Exodus 34 is actually an almost verbatim paraphrase of Exodus 23 and it is important to compare and contrast these two passages; the differences are often very enlightening. Comparing Ex 34:22 and Ex 23:16 it is clear that the “going out of the year” and the “circuit of the year” refer to the same time. The “going out/ circuit” of the year is described in Ex 23:16 as “when you have gathered in your work from the field”. This agricultural ingathering is also described in Dt 16:13:

“You shall keep the Feast of Booths for seven days, when you have gathered in from your threshing floors and from your wine presses.”

The Feast of Booths/Ingathering is described as the “going out of the year” because it takes place at the end of the yearly agricultural cycle of planting, harvest, threshing, and ingathering. At the same time, Sukkot is described as taking place at the “circuit of the year” because once the agricultural cycle ends it then immediately recommences (making a circuit, returning to the same point in time) with the planting of the fields after the first rains (sometimes during or shortly after Sukkot itself).

Tekufah in Psalms 19:7

The term Tekufah (circuit) appears in Psalm 19 in reference to the sun, but here too it has nothing to do with the equinox. Psalm 19 describes the heavens and sun, which from their unique vantage point are witness to all things in creation, and thus (metaphorically) testify to the incomparable glory of God. Verses 5-7 describes the sun:

“(5)… He [YHWH] placed a tent among them [the heavens] for the sun. (6) Which is as a bridegroom going out of his chamber, and which rejoices as a strong man running a race. (7) From the end of the heavens is its [the sun’s] going out and its circuit (Tekufato) is to their [the heavens] ends, and none is hidden from its heat”

Verse 6 describes the sun as a bridegroom that bursts forth out of his chamber and as a hero that runs along a path. Verse 7 then describes the “going out” of the sun at one end of the heavens and the “circuit” (Tekufato) of the sun at the other end. Clearly what is being described is the daily path of the sun which rises at one end of the heaven (its going out) and sets at the other end (its return), “and none is hidden from its heat” during the course of the day. What has confused some readers is that the going out or exiting of the sun refers to sunrise, but this unusual terminology is used throughout the Tanach. For example, we read in Judges 5:31:

“Thus shall all the enemies of YHWH be destroyed; and all those whom he loves shall be as the going out of the sun (KeTzet HaShemesh) in its might”. (Jud 5:31)

Those loyal to YHWH shall shine forth with glory as the “going out of the sun”, that is sunrise. It may seem strange that sunrise is referred to as the “going out” of the sun. After all, in Exodus we saw that the going out of the year was the end of the year, whereas the going out of the sun is the beginning of the day. However, this is consistent with Biblical usage and in fact the common Biblical way of saying sunset is the coming in or entering of the sun. This is related to the ancient Israelite conception of the sun which at night was thought of as metaphorically dwelling in a celestial chamber (Ps 19:5). At dawn the sun goes out of this metaphorical chamber and the earth is lit while at night the sun comes into the metaphorical chamber and it is dark. This is also the thought behind the comparison of sunrise to a bridegroom coming forth from his chamber. Ps 19:7 refers to the going out of the sun (sunrise) at one end of heaven and its circuit (return to the same place, to its nightly chamber) at the other end, that is sunset (for a similar thought see Ecc 1:5). We see that here too Tekufah (circuit) has nothing to do with the equinox.

Tekufah in 2Chronicles 24:23

As seen above the “Tekufah (circuit) of the year” in Exodus referred to events in the autumn (the time of the ingathering). The same expression (circuit of the year) is also used to refer to events which take place in late spring as we see in 2Chr 24:23:

“And it was at the circuit (Tekufah) of the year that the army of Aram went up and they came to Judah and Jerusalem…”

In this instance the “Circuit (Tekufah) of the year” comes in place of the common expression “Return (Teshuvah) of the year” which appears several times in the Tanach as “the time when kings go out [to war]” as in:

“And it was at the return (Teshuvah) of the year, and Ben-Haddad counted Aram and went up to Afek to war with Israel.” (1Ki 20:26).

“And it was at the return (Teshuvah) of the year, at the time the kings go out [to war] and David sent Yoav… and they smote the Amonites and besieged Rabbah…” (2Sam 11:1)

The time that the kings went out to war was the late spring before the oppressive heat of summer and after the winter rains which made the mud roads in the Land of Israel impassable. We see here that Tekufah (circuit) of the year is used interchangeably with the more common Teshuvah (return) of the year. Whenever this annual set time for kings to go out to war comes around it is a “circuit of the year”, returning to the same point in time as last year.

Tekufah in 1Samuel 1:20

The term Tekufah (circuit) also appears in 1Sam 1:20 which says:

“And it was at the circuits (Tekufot) of the days, and Hannah conceived and bore a son…”

Here the “circuits” of the days refers to “the same time the following year” [or possibly to the completion of the term of pregnancy?]. It is worth noting that Tekufah is plural in 1Sam 1:20 as tekufot “circuitS”. If we apply the anachronistic meaning of Tekufah as equinox then we get the absurd translation: “And it was at the equinoxes of the days, and Hanah concieved and bore a son…” This emphasizes how important it is to understand Scripture in its historical and linguistic context.

None of the four appearances of Tekufah in the Hebrew Scripture have anything to do with the equinox. Instead, this term is used in Biblical Hebrew in its primary sense of a “circuit”, that is a return to the same point in space or time. Only in Post-Biblical Hebrew did Tekufah come to mean “equinox” and to read this meaning into the Tanach creates an anachronism.

Can you Have Passover Before the Equinox?

A number of years ago, I was confronted with the Barley being very early and I was taught that you could not have Passover before the Equinox. But I could nto find any scriptures to prove it. I was just told that.

Then I began to reason that there was no way Passover could be before the Equinox. I never go by the equinox, even though that seems to be an unwritten rule. Brian Hoecke even showed me a chart that showed, for each year since 2000, that Passover was always after the equinox. I had disagreed, but I had forgotten where my proof was, which showed that Passover could be before the equinox. And then I got busy with other things and forgot about it until now. (backin 2016) I now have a dozen Tombstones from Zoar that testify that they did not reckon with the equinox using the Crescent moon and barley calendar, or even when they began using the Hillel calendar.

Here is the information courtesy of Brian Hoeck and I thank him for going and finding this and then for sharing it with us. Note that Passover will be 14 days after each of the New Moon sightings below and in each case was after the Equinox.

Here’s the info you requested:
“In the month of Xanthicus, which is by us called Nisan, and is the beginning of our year, on the fourteenth day of the lunar month, when the sun is in Aries, (for in this month it was that we were delivered from bondage under the Egyptians,) the law ordained that we should every year slay that sacrifice which I before told you we slew when we came out of Egypt, and which was called the Passover; and so we do celebrate this passover in companies, leaving nothing of what we sacrifice till the day following.” (Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book III)

Please note that Josephus did not say the New Moon that starts the year occurs in Aries, but rather he said the Passover was sacrificed (i.e., the ending of Aviv/Nisan 14) while the Sun was in Aries. In his day, the Sun was in Aries circa March 20/21 through April 19/20. IF the Passover sacrifice had to occur in Aries, then it would have to fall in between March 20/21 and April 19/20, which would mean then that the New Moon must be sighted between the evening of March 7 (which would produce an Aviv 14 on March 21) and the evening of April 6 (which would produce an Aviv 14 on April 20).

Here is New Year info for years 2000-2019 via Aviv inspections and New Moon watches:
2000: 1st New Moon visible Wednesday, April 5
2001: 1st New Moon visible Monday, March 26
2002: 1st New Moon visible Friday, March 15
2003: 1st New Moon visible Friday, April 3
2004: 1st New Moon visible Monday, March 22
2005: 1st New Moon visible Friday, March 11*
2006: 1st New Moon visible Thursday, March 30
2007: 1st New Moon visible Wednesday, March 20
2008: 1st New Moon visible Monday, April 7*
2009: 1st New Moon visible Friday, March 27
2010: 1st New Moon visible Wednesday, March 17
2011: 1st New Moon visible Monday, April 4
2012: 1st New Moon visible Friday, March 23
2013: 1st New Moon visible Wednesday, March 13
2014: 1st New Moon visible Monday, March 31
2015: 1st New Moon visible Saturday, March 21
2016: 1st New Moon visible Thursday, March 10*
2017: 1st New Moon visible Wednesday, March 29
2018: 1st New Moon visible Sunday, March 18
2019: 1st New Moon visible Friday, March 8*

2020  1st New Moon visible Wednesday February 26*

There are 4 years above marked with an asterisk. These mark years of split views of aviv inspectors.

* In 2005, there was debate over the start in the Aviv camps. The date in the chart is derived from the Karaite Korner crew, whereas abibofgod declared a 13th month and began the year with the 1st New Moon visible Sunday, April 11, 2005. If the abibofgod determination is correct, it would be evidence against the Josephus parameter.

* In 2008, the Karaites & abibofgod both declared a 13th month and began the year with the New Moon sighted the evening of April 7, thus an April 21st afternoon Passover sacrifice. This would put it one day outside of Aries (which ended April 20).
The folks at torahcalendar declared that the barley was ready for March 8, 2008 to begin the year: https://torahcalendar.com/PDF/2008_Abib.pdf

* In 2016, the Karaite group declared a 13th month, and thus their day of Passover sacrifice (April 23) fell outside of the parameter given by Josephus by 3 days. (There was a split amoungst the groups this year Some not adding a 13th month)

* In 2019, the Karaite group declared a 13th month, making their Passover sacrifice occur the afternoon of April 20 (still fitting the Josephus parameter).(There was a split amoungst the groups this year Some not adding a 13th month)

*In 2020 all the groups kept the Passover on April 8th while we at sightedmoon.com and a few others small groups went with Beccas’ report and kept Passover March 11, the same day WHO declared a worldwide pandemic. This year again it was a split amongst the crescent moon group.

Let me share my experience here now that I have this record above. My first year was in 2005, and we kept the Passover via the Karaite view 30 days before the Hebrew Calendar. I have written about this many times. In 2016, with much debate, sightedmoon.com kept Passover earlier than the Karaite view, which added a 13th month that year. We did not. In 2019, once again, sightseeingmoon.com kept Passover 30 days before the Karaite groups, again with much debate and much scorn. In both instances, Nehemia and I remained friends and still do to this day. And in both instances, sadly, others stopped following us and talking with us. So we are well aware of the divisiveness of this subject and the controversies it brings forth.

If Passover can be before the equinox and I can prove it,  The barley and Yehovah are guiding that process. Yehovah is in charge, and we must never forget that. Becca recently showed barley that was flowering. Which means we could be just 20 days from it being ripe enough for Wave Sheaf day. It is most certainly going to be a very close year, and we all must be ready either way.

Here is the thing. Yehovah is in control. He is in charge. The warmer weather has come to Israel and it is going to be a race for the Barley to be ready on time.
According to the chart in exactly so many days. But in reality, only Yehovah knows.
Once again we are being shown this parable, this Hebrew idiom.

Mat 24:36  But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not the angels of Heaven, but only My Father.

Those who do not keep the Holy Days will not and cannot know when He is to come. They will not know the seasons. Paul said;

The Day of the Lord

1Th 5:1  But of the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that I write to you.
1Th 5:2  For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety! Then sudden destruction comes on them, as travail upon a woman with child. And they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4  But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the Day should overtake you like a thief.
1Th 5:5  You are all the sons of light and the sons of the day. We are not of the night, or of darkness.
1Th 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us watch and be calm.
1Th 5:7  For those sleeping sleep in the night, and those being drunken are drunken in the night.
1Th 5:8  But let us, who are of the day, be calm, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and the hope of salvation for a helmet.
1Th 5:9  For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10  who died for us, so that whether we watch or sleep we should live together with Him.
1Th 5:11  Therefore comfort one another, and edify one another, even as you also do.

Yehovah is demonstrating to us that we cannot know when, but once we know the season, then we can know about when.

We are now lloking for the Green Heads to appear in the month of Aviv, the month of green heads.

Can you Have Passover Before the Equinox?

In all this thinking and my mind racing, I remembered where I had seen the proof that Passover was indeed possible to be kept before the Equinox. It was in the Tombstones of Zoar. The very same ones that had shown me many references to the Sabbatical and Jubilee years.
When I got home from work Friday I immediately began to go through every single tombstone once again and to see just how many had more evidence to give up. Things I had just read over and not valued.

Almost all of the Tombstones give you the year in reference to the year the Temple was destroyed. They give the name of the person deceased, and most give the month. And some even give the day of the week and the date of that day and the month. This was pure gold which I had not realized I had nor had I thought to use it before now.

With this weekday and the date and month, I could now go back and see when that year began and if indeed it was before the Equinox when they kept Passover. But then Friday night as I was going through each of these Tombstones, I also realized that they were telling me consistently when they had changed from the Crescent moon calendar to the Conjunction to begin the month. What an exciting find I had tripped over. It is with this understanding of the two systems used for the calendars that you must have in order to understand these 30 or so tombstones. This is why when many “authorities” looked at them like Marcus and Wacholder, Zuckerman and  Shurer, they dismissed them because they did not line up with their theories or understanding. This is why they are hardly mentioned.

So let me now share each one at a time and learn if in fact you can keep the Passover before the Equinox.

Proof # 24-Tombstone # 3 – 393 CE-Naveh’s # 7

Just so you understnd the listing above. This is my 24th proof of the Sabbatical Years. It is the 3rd Tombstone chronologically and Naveh who is the authority on the Tombstones has it listed in his list as #7.
Tombstones # 3 – 393 CE Naveh’s # 7
This is the tombstone of Jacob
Son of Samul, who died on
The second day (Monday), forty
years old, on the third day
of the month of Iyar (2^nd month), on the first year
of the Shemitah
year three hundred and twenty
three to the destruction of the
temple
323 + 70 = 393 CE

This tombstone is telling us the 3rd of Iyar was a Monday. Just so you know what each month is in name and number here is a chart for you.
Nissan / Pesa? (Passover) 1st
Iyar  2nd
Sivan / Shavuot/s 3rd
Tammuz 4th
Av  5th
Elul 6th
Tishrei Succot/s 7th
(Mar)Heshvan  8th
Kislev 9th
Tevet/s /  10th
Shvat / 11^th
Adar Aleph (First Adar 12th
Adar Bet/Baiz (Second Adar 13^th)
Now we go to Torah Calendar (https://torahcalendar.com/Calendar.asp?YM=Y393M2) for the year 393 CE and look at the 2nd month to see if it was a Monday. And what we see is that Monday in the 2nd month was indeed the 3rd of Iyar. Then when we check the 1st month we see that Passover was after the Equinox.
Now you must take special note here. This was a very simple check. That is because Torah Calendar goes by the Crescent moon to begin the month and this is why I use them so often. But… They also use the Equinox to determine when the first of the year is. It is always after the Equinox according to them. They also use the Metonic cycles to determine the leap years. We wrote about them last week and will not repeat them here now. You must keep this in mind in our search.
The other thing that jumps out here is the fact that this Tombstone in the year 393 CE was using the Crescent Moon to begin the month. I will show you another that proves they also were going by the Barley to begin the year in a moment.

Proof # 27-Tombstone # 6 – 416 CE- Naveh #20

May rest the soul of Jacob, the son of Shem’o who died on the second day, the 10th day of the month Shebat, in the 3rd year of the Sabbatical cycle, the years 300 hundred and 46 years after the destruction of the Temple. May he wake up to the voice of the announcer of peace. 346 + 70 = 416

Nissan / Pesa? (Passover) 1st
Iyar  2nd
Sivan / Shavuot/s 3rd
Tammuz 4th
Av  5th
Elul 6th
Tishrei Succot/s 7th
(Mar)Heshvan  8th
Kislev 9th
Tevet/s /  10th
Shvat / 11^th
Adar Aleph (First Adar 12th
Adar Bet/Baiz (Second Adar 13^th)
This man died on the 10th day of Shevat, the 11th month, which was a Monday, the second day of the week in the year 416 CE. This again matches exactly what Torah Calendar is showing us (https://torahcalendar.com/Calendar.asp?YM=Y416M11) And when we then go back to check the 1st month of this year, Passover is found to be after the Equinox.
Once again in this year of 416 CE., they are still going by the Crescent Moon Calendar and the Barley being Aviv.

Proof # 29-Tombstone # 8 – 432 CE- No Naveh #

This is the grave of Iyrsh daughter of Marsa, the fellow who died on Thursday, the 17th day of the month Elul, in the fourth year of the Sabbatical cycle, the year 3 hundred sixty 2 after the destruction of the  Temple. May there come peace and may it rest on her resting place. Peace Peace 362 + 70 = 432
Nissan / Pesach (Passover) 1st
Iyar  2nd
Sivan / Shavuot/s 3rd
Tammuz 4th
Av  5th
Elul 6th
Tishrei Succot/s 7th
(Mar)Heshvan  8th
Kislev 9th
Tevet/s /  10th
Shvat / 11^th
Adar Aleph (First Adar 12th
Adar Bet/Baiz (Second Adar 13^th)
Thursday the 17th day of the 6th month in the year 432 CE.
When we look at the 17th day of the 6th month in the year 432 it does not come up on a Thursday but on Tuesday (https://torahcalendar.com/Calendar.asp?YM=Y432M6 ). What is going on now? Torah Calendar does not go by the barley but it does go by the Metonic cycles.

The Only way you can get the 17^th of the 6^th month to be on a Thursday is for there to be an Adar bet for the preceding year making this 6^th month what Torah Calendar is saying is the 7^th month.(https://torahcalendar.com/Calendar.asp?YM=Y432M7)

This Tombstone proves that these Jewish people in Zoar at this time in the year 432 CE were still going by the Barley and they added a 13th month, an Adar Bet to the preceding year. When they did that then what Torah Calendar calls the 7th month is, in fact, the 6th month and matches the date on the Tombstone exactly. Remember Torah Calendar is going by the Metonic cycles and the Equinox. These people were going by the Barley and the Crescent moon.
This is exactly what I am looking for only going the other way so that Passover would then fall before the Equinox.

Proof # 31 Tombstone # 10 – 439 CE-No Naveh #

“This is the tombstone of Hannah, daughter of Ha[niel] the priest, who died on the Sabbath, the first festival of Passover, on the fifteenth day of the month of Nisan,[JD1]  in the fifth year of the sabbatical cycle, which is the year three hundred and sixty-nine years after the destruction of the Temple. Peace. May her soul rest. Peace” 369 + 70 = 439 C.E.
When we look at the 1st month in the year 439 we see that Passover the 15th day is on a Sunday and not the Sabbath as the Tombstone has said.

I then checked the visibility of the moon to start this month and see if it could have been seen the day before which would then move the 15th back to the Sabbath and match what the Tombstone says. Here is the day it could be seen.
And here is the day before when it could not be seen.

When I then look at what Torah Calendar is saying is the 13th month of the preceding year I see that it was a 30 day month because the moon could not be sighted.  But I also see that if the moon was not sighted the month before and 30 day month declared then this month would put the 15th day on the Sabbath and match what the Tombstone said if indeed this was the 1st month and not the 13th.

This is HUGE

The year 438 is Adar Bet according to Torah Calendar. But if the month Adar bet was the 1st month and the moon was not seen on the first day then Sabbath would be the 15th day. Passover would be before the Equinox.
https://torahcalendar.com/Calendar.asp?YM=Y438M13
This Tombstone proves a few things that you need to make note of. It is a very important tombstone to note.

1. That Passover is on the 15th at the end of the 14th. The 15th is when Passover is and it is the First High Holy Day. The 14th is not Passover as some claim today.
2. When you check the calendars the only way you can have a Passover on a Saturday in that year is if you go by the Crescent moon to begin the month, not the conjunction.
3. The only way you can have a Passover on a Saturday and to go by the crescent moon is if you do not have an Adar Bet. The Hebrew Calendar with the Metonic cycles makes you add a 13th month.  But the Biblical calendar that goes by the barley to start the year and then by the crescent moon to begin each month does not use the Metonic cycles and therefor what Torah Calendar is calling the 13th month can, in fact, be the 1st month and this tombstone proves it.
4. This Tombstone shows you that the Jewish People in Zoar at this time were still going by the Barley determine the years and the Crescent moon to begin the month.
5. This Tombstone shows you that they were not going by the Equinox and that Passover this year was before the Equinox.

Proof # 33-Tombstone # 12 – 455 CE-Naveh # 22

We now come a very important junction.

Hillel II  Hillel the Nasi, also known simply as Hillel, was an amora of the fifth generation in the Land of Israel. He held the office of Nasi of the Sanhedrin between 320 and 385 CE. He was the son and successor of Judah III. He is sometimes confused with Hillel the Elder, as the Talmud sometimes simply uses the name “Hillel”.
He is traditionally regarded as the creator of the modern fixed Jewish calendar. This tradition first appears in a responsum of R. Hai Gaon (written in 992[3]) cited by R. Abraham bar Hiyya in his Sefer Ha’ibbur (written in 1123).[4] The citation explicitly refers to the year that this event happened, 670 of the Seleucid era, which corresponds to 358/9 CE.
However, a number of documents have been found that indicate the calendar was not fully fixed in Hillel’s time; most famously a letter found in Cairo Geniza (from the year 835/6) indicates that the holidays were observed on different dates from those predicted by the current calendar.[3][5] The calendar did not reach its exact modern form until at least the years 922-924.[6] According to modern scholar Sacha Stern, Hai Gaon only attributed the establishment of a 19-year cycle, and not other details of the calendar, to Hillel.[3]
The fixed calendar was of great benefit to Jews of his and subsequent generations. The Jewish calendar is lunisolar. That is, its months are synchronized with the phases of the moon, but its average year length approximates the mean length of a solar year. The Sanhedrin declared new months based on observations of the new moon, and added a 13th lunar month to certain years to ensure that holidays would continue to fall in the same seasons of the solar year. But Constantius II, following the precedents of Hadrian, prohibited the holding of such meetings as well as the vending of articles for distinctly Jewish purposes. The worldwide Jewish community depended on the calendar sanctioned by the Judean Sanhedrin to observe Jewish holidays on the correct dates. However, danger threatened the participants in that sanction and the messengers who communicated their decisions to distant congregations. Temporarily, to relieve the foreign congregations, Huna ben Abin once advised Rava not to wait for the official intercalation: When you are convinced that the winter quarter will extend beyond the sixteenth day of Nisan declare the year a leap year, and do not hesitate.[7] But as the religious persecutions continued, Hillel decided to provide an authorized calendar for all time to come, though by doing so he severed the ties which united the Jews of the diaspora to their mother country and to the patriarchate.

You are about to see the first time that I have discovered of the calculated calendar being used next.

May rest the soul of Rabbi Simon Binabi, who died the fourth day (Wednesday) the third day of the month Adar in the seventh year three hundred and eighty and five years after the destruction of the Temple. May he rest a sage in peace. May he wake up to the voice of the announcer of peace. 385 + 70 = 455
Nissan / Pesach (Passover) 1st
Iyar  2nd
Sivan / Shavuot/s 3rd
Tammuz 4th
Av  5th
Elul 6th
Tishrei Succot/s 7th
(Mar)Heshvan  8th
Kislev 9th
Tevet/s /  10th
Shvat / 11^th
Adar Aleph (First Adar 12th)
Adar Bet/Baiz (Second Adar 13^th)
This Rabbi died on Wednesday the 3rd of the 12th month in the 455 CE.
We have here now the first proof I have that the Conjunction moon is now being used. The conjunction took place Monday making it the first day and thereby Wednesday is now the 3rd day when you start to count from the conjunction moon. This explanation now matches what the Tombstone has said. And it shows us that Passover that year was on the day of the Equinox.

Proof # 34-Tombstone # 13 – 456 CE-Naveh’s # 4

This is the Tombstone of….Son of Megalos (?) who died on the Sabbath, the twenty-fifth day on the month Tevet, in the 1st year of the sabbatical cycle, 386 years after the destruction of the Temple.”  386 + 70 = 456
Nissan / Pesach (Passover) 1st
Iyar  2nd
Sivan / Shavuot/s 3rd
Tammuz 4th
Av  5th
Elul 6th
Tishrei Succot/s 7th
(Mar)Heshvan  8th
Kislev 9th
Tevet/s /  10th
Shvat / 11^th
Adar Aleph (First Adar 12th)
Adar Bet/Baiz (Second Adar 13^th)
Shabbat the 25th of Tevet 456 CE
The day of conjunction is Thursday, December 13th so this month does not match our day for Shabbat being the 25th day of the 10th month.

In order to have the 25^th day on the Sabbath, you must begin the year one month earlier and use the conjunction moon and not the sighted one. This would make the 9th month according to Torah Calendar the 10th month which matches the tombstone date with the Sabbath being the 25th day of the month. The Conjunction would begin the month on the 4th day.

Because we have now pushed the calendar back one month according to Torah Calendar,  changing the 13th month of the previous year and making it the 1st month. This would make Passover March 9^th if using the Conjunction and March 10^th if using the crescent moon. But now have no way of knowing if they are using the Barley to begin the year because they are now using the calculated calendar. This is over one week before the Equinox.

Proof # 36-Tombstone # 15 – 468 CE-Naveh’s # 11

May the spirit {of Est} of Ester
daughter of Babah, who died of the sixth day (Friday) on the third day

of the month of Kislev (9^th month) in the sixth year of the Shemitah, which was a leap year, year three hundred and ninety-eight to the destruction of the temple 398 + 70 = 468 Nissan / Pesach (Passover) 1st
Iyar  2nd Sivan / Shavuot/s 3rd Tammuz 4th Av  5th Elul 6th Tishrei Succot/s 7th (Mar)Heshvan  8th Kislev 9th Tevet/s /  10th Shvat / 11^th Adar Aleph (First Adar 12th) Adar Bet/Baiz (Second Adar 13^th)
Friday the 3rd of the 9th month 468 and it was a leap year. When we look at the 9th month according to Torah Calendar it does not match so we then look at the 8th month.

Wednesday, October 2 was the conjunction of the moon making it day 1 and Friday day 3 just as the tombstone states.

This now means that the first month would be what Torah Calendars is calling the 12th month of the previous year. This would then make Passover fall on the 26th of February in that year of 468. I am not saying this is correct. I am saying that once they stopped using the barley as a reference to begin the year they began to keep Passover in February on the 26th day in the year 468 CE.

Proof # 37-Tombstone # 16 – 468 CE-Naveh’s # 14

We now have another Tombstone for the year 468.

This memorial of the deceased Mati (son of) Sabah, who died on the fifth day, twentieth of the month of Elul on the fifth year of the Shemitah year three hundred and ninety eight to the destruction of the temple May he rest in peace 398 + 70 = 468 CE

Thursday the 20th of the 6th month in the year 468. So if we follow the pattern as the previous tombstones have shown us. We should be one month earlier.
Nissan / Pesach (Passover) 1st, Iyar  2nd, Sivan / Shavuot/s 3rd, Tammuz 4th, Av  5th, Elul 6th, Tishrei Succot/s 7th, (Mar)Heshvan  8th, Kislev 9th, Tevet/s /  10th, Shvat / 11^th
Adar Aleph (First Adar 12th), Adar Bet/Baiz (Second Adar 13^th)

The Conjunction is on August 5 which makes the 20th move back by just one day and it does not land on the Thursday as the tombstone says.

The Conjunction is on July 5 which makes July 6 day one, and the 20th move back by two days and it does land on the Thursday as the tombstone says. So this is a second witness that this year of 468 CE. the months began one month earlier that Torah Calendar has them and that Passover was on February 26, weeks before the Equinox.

Proof # 38-Tombstone # 17 – 470 CE-Naveh # 24

May the soul of Yoseh son of Ofi who died in the city of Tefar in the land of Heymar and left to the land of Israel and buried on the sixth day the twenty sixth of the month of Tamuz on the first year of the Shemitah, which is identical to the year [400] to the destruction of the temple, Shalom

Peace on you in your resting place 400 + 70 = 470, Friday the 26th of Tammuz 470 CE, Nissan / Pesach (Passover) 1st, Iyar  2nd, Sivan / Shavuot/s 3rd, Tammuz 4th, Av  5th, Elul 6th, Tishrei Succot/s 7th
(Mar)Heshvan  8th, Kislev 9th, Tevet/s /  10th, Shvat / 11^th, Adar Aleph (First Adar 12th), Adar Bet/Baiz (Second Adar 13^th)

When we look at the 4th month for the year 470 CE. we see the following from Torah Calendar.

You can only get Friday the 26^th of Tammuz if you use the conjunction moon. Passover would be on April 4^th. Passover was after the Equinox this year.

Proof # 39-Tombstone # 18 – 472 CE

This is the tombstone of Hannah, daughter of Levi, who died on Thursday on the 19th day of the month of Sivan, in the third year of the Sabbatical year, four hundred and two years since the destruction of the Temple. Peace upon Israel Peace. 402 + 70 = 472

Thursday the 19th of Sivan 472 CE.
Nissan / Pesach (Passover) 1st
Iyar  2nd
Sivan / Shavuot/s 3rd
Tammuz 4th
Av  5th
Elul 6th
Tishrei Succot/s 7th
(Mar)Heshvan  8th
Kislev 9th
Tevet/s /  10th
Shvat / 11^th
Adar Aleph (First Adar 12th)
Adar Bet/Baiz (Second Adar 13^th)

Torah Calendar did add a 13th month in the year 471. Using the Crescent moon has not helped me to find the 19th on a Thursday in the month of Sivan. If I use the Conjunction then the only month that has Thursday as the 19th is what Torah calendar is calling month one.

This then makes the 12th month of the year 471 the 1st month and Passover would then be February 11th.

Proof # 40-Tombstone # 19 – 476 CE-Naveh’s #16

This is the memorial of Ya’akov (Jacob) son of ‘awid who died on the 2^nd (day), on the 10^th days of… Marcheshvan (8^th month), on the first year of the Shemitah which is the year four hundred and six to the destruction of the temple. May he rest in peace. Shalom Shalom Shalom

406 + 70 = 476

Monday the 10th of the 8th Month 476 CE, Nissan / Pesach (Passover) 1st, Iyar  2nd, Sivan / Shavuot/s 3rd, Tammuz 4th, Av  5th, Elul 6th, Tishrei Succot/s 7th, (Mar)Heshvan  8th, Kislev 9th, Tevet/s /  10th
Shvat / 11^th, Adar Aleph (First Adar 12th), Adar Bet/Baiz (Second Adar 13^th)

The pattern continues to hold that the only way to get the 10th of the 8th month to be on a Monday is to go to the preceding month and we have our match.

This then makes February 27, 576 CE Passover and it was before the Equinox.

Proof # 43-Tombstone # 22 – 505 CE-Naveh’s # 3

May rest the soul of Haifu the daughter of …, who died on Tuesday, the eleventh day of Elul, in the …year of the Sabbatical cycle that is the year four hundred thirty-five after the destruction of the Temple. Peace Peace Upon Israel, Peace!  435 + 70 = 505

Tuesday the 11th of 6th month 505 CE, Nissan / Pesach (Passover) 1st, Iyar  2nd, Sivan / Shavuot/s 3rd, Tammuz 4th, Av  5th, Elul 6th, Tishrei Succot/s 7th, (Mar)Heshvan  8th, Kislev 9th, Tevet/s /  10th, Shvat / 11^th
Adar Aleph (First Adar 12th) ,Adar Bet/Baiz (Second Adar 13^th)

The only way to have Tuesday as the 11^th is by using the conjunction moon and starting one month earlier.

This would make Passover on March 8^th 505 CE. Which is before the Equinox.

Proof # 44-Tombstone # 23 – 515 CE

“May the soul of Hasadiah the Priest son of Dematin rest, who died on Thursday, the fifth of Av, in the fourth year of the Sabbatical cycle, which is the year four hundred and forty-five after the destruction of the Temple. Peace on Israel. Peace.”  445 + 70 = 515

Thursday the 5th of 5th month 515 CE, Nissan / Pesach (Passover) 1st, Iyar  2nd, Sivan / Shavuot/s 3rd, Tammuz 4th, Av  5th, Elul 6th, Tishrei Succot/s 7th, (Mar)Heshvan  8th, Kislev 9th, Tevet/s /  10th, Shvat / 11^th
Adar Aleph (First Adar 12th), Adar Bet/Baiz (Second Adar 13^th)

The Conjunction this year was on July 26 which then makes Thursday the 5th of the 5th month. Passover this year was on April 15 515 CE. This was after the Equinox.

Conclusions

Based upon our findings using all the Tombstones at our disposal we have concluded that the ancient community of Jews in the town of Zoar, did not ever use the Equinox to determine when Passover would fall. They used the Crescent moon and the Barley to begin the year and then about 455 CE, which is the first record I have, they then began to use the Conjunction moon, also today known as the Hillel Calendar to govern the Holy Days and months.

Out of 13 Tombstones with the Day of the death and the date, we have checked each one to see if they kept the Passover before the Equinox.
We had 1 using the Barley and the Crescent moon to begin the month and they were before the Equinox. And we had 3 that were after the Equinox.
We had 6 using the conjunction moon to begin the month and they were before the Equinox. We also had 3 that were after the Equinox.

Therefore, is it possible to have the Passover before the equinox? Yes. Ancient history written upon the tombstones of Zoar, proves this to be the case. It is entirely possible for Passover to come this year of 2020 on March 11 with the 14th and preparation day being on March 10. This would then make the last Day of Unleavened Bread, March 17. But we must wait upon Yehovah to bring the warm winds to create the heads in the Barley to know for sure. What we have done with this technical study is to demonstrate that the equinox is irrelevant as to when Passover will be.