I avoid calendar discussion and debates like the plague. Seriously. I HATE them, so usually when the topic comes up, I bow out or ghost… Just. Not. Interested.
But, like a stone in my shoe, some things in the Hillel have bothered me to the point that I asked Abba to give me a heart for the calendar discussion and I asked Him to help me understand what HE wants. This has not been easy, but over the last few months I’ve been digging and increasingly finding peace with a few changes.
Besides general discontent with so much variance in the calendars, I was troubled by the fact that the calendar should be discernible from anywhere on the planet. If the heavens are telling the glory of Yah and pouring forth speech to all of creation, and the heavenly lights are to control signs, seasons, days, and years, then why so many differences? My first foray into the topic of calendars was expressing publicly that I had come to the place that I believe the aviv barley was overrated.
What is interesting is that nearly a year before I wrote the barley article I had a desire in my heart to begin studying and learning the constellations. As my wife can attest, we’ve spent many early evenings and a few very early morning stargazing in an effort to ‘see’ what the very average farmer in Melek David’s time would have known. I’m a long way from proficiency, but the experience began to make me acutely aware of how very important the stars and planets are in Yah’s creation and His order.
I began to recognize that He is so incredibly precise and ordered, therefore His calendar, based on the heavenly hosts (Gen 1:14), must be incredibly precise…. and visible from any remote location or isle in the South Pacific or North Atlantic. The moon and barley combo is quite imprecise and able to be manipulated by man. That’s when I questioned the barley and Hillel.
While I have not reached a final conclusion, I have a strong lean based on a pile of evidence that I’ll share along with multiple resources for your personal investigation. So, not in any particular order, here are a few things to consider and then sources for you to ‘hear the other side.’ Please do your own due diligence. And, if this is a journey you are on or have already walked, I’d love to hear your thoughts, positively or negatively as I continue weighing the evidence.
- The Tanak covers roughly 4000 years of history. If 7 out of every 19 years has 13 months (Adar II), why is there not a single example of a 13th month in Scripture?
- Shlomo, the wisest man who ever lived, only had divisions for 12 months worth of provisions for his palace. (1 Kings 4:7ff)
- ‘Months’ are not mentioned in Genesis 1:14. Why not?
- Hebrew has a word for ‘moon,’ – yareach. And, it has a word for ‘month’ that is often understood as ‘moon’ – chodesh. Modern scholarship, in light of word use in the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) has largely changed their understanding of the word ‘chodesh’ to not mean ‘moon’ and instead mean ‘month.’ Because the rabbinic calendar has been lunar based for so long, this is a difficult paradigm to break IF/WHEN we are reading into the text a wrong calendar understanding.
- Jubilees, much older than the Aleppo Codex, specifically excludes the moon from setting the calendar. The LXX, contemporary to Jubilees, seems to include it, however the LXX was likely translated by adherents to the lunisolar calendar adherents that became the Hillel calendar after the fall of the Temple. Remember as well, the Greek calendar was lunar and the LXX is translated into/for Greek(s).
- It is well known that there was a pretty good calendar kerfuffle going on during Yeshua’s time and He seems to be operating on a calendar that is different than the Pharisees. I addressed this last year, but wrote it off as Him keeping the calendar as Israel did before leaving Egypt while the Jews were keeping the memorial dates… Now, I’m seeing that He, as well as a not insignificant number in Israel, was likely on a different calendar.
- The DSS find at Qumran happened in the same month that the UN declared that Israel would become a nation. Coinkydink, or significant?
- The Qumran community, more than 100 years before Yeshua, referred to themselves as ‘The Way’ and they were centered in a desert community south east of Jerusalem that was called Damascus!! Now, go back and reread Acts 9:2 and 24:14… Hmmm…. Very interesting… This adds a whole new layer to the complexity of Paul, but also may answer a dozen questions…
- The Qumran community were descendants of the Zadok priestly line that had either abandoned or been driven out of the Temple due to corruption in the civil and religious governance. The Zadokites at Qumran referred to themselves as ‘sons of light’ and the corrupt Pharisees and Sadducees as the ‘sons of darkness.’ Consider the language of Yeshua and the Apostles re: sons of light/darkness…
- The Hillel II calendar is allegedly Yah’s calendar, but Rabbinically the rabbis reserve the right to assign feast days based on some, er, interesting rules… Research ‘lo adu rosh’ and ‘lo bedu pesach’. Two sources are here and here. The point is, Torah never makes such a ruling. The question this creates is ‘Whose hands is the calendar in? The heavenly lights (Yah’s) or the lights plus rabbinic ruling?’
- The year of Noach’s flood says he was on the water 5 months, 150 days (Gen. 8:3-4), but that is not remotely possible with the lunar 29/30 day variations. However, it is easily doable with the Zadok or Enochian calendar.
- Timing in Daniel and Revelation make much more sense when using either Enoch or Zadokite calendars than the Hillel II…
There are more pieces to what I have seen and or studied, but the bottom line is that I find Hillel II and the lunisolar system with the moon in charge to be incredibly suspect.
What I have found that makes much more sense and fits so much better is the Zadokite calendar. I’m still digging, but I want to share these resources with you for your own perusal.
Here is the first of a four part series that assembles pieces very well. This was my first stop.
Next, someone pointed me to a 17 part, yes… long but very good and very detailed, podcast by Avi ben Mordecai. He immediately followed that up with a seven part series considering Yeshua’s Passion Week in light of the Zadokite calendar. Very interesting stuff… Start on Nov. 13, 2021 for his complete series.
https://www.stitcher.com/show/ancient-roads-real-israel-talk-radio
During that series, I found this two part series that has a pile of information clearly explained…
Then yesterday I listened to this one… twice! It is super loaded with information. Very, very interesting…
My Conclusion…
I don’t have one… yet. I’m still exploring, studying, digging, etc… At this point, I am convinced that the Hillel II is wrong. I am leaning toward the Zadokite but still have questions that need answers, or I have a few answers that are as yet untested. But, I do want to share this journey with you and look forward to what your thoughts are.
Brachot v’shalom!!
natsab 
Shabbat Shalom Pete….following this very closely as it has been very frustrating lately (I wonder why) and have thrown the towel in on trying to make sense of all the dividing the calendars have caused. All the brilliant intellectuals can’t agree so why should I even try. I’m just a simple farmer. I certainly agree that it will be totally based on His perfect created order and not something that has to be calculated by the brains of intellectuals. I’m not against intellectuals and scholars but it seems so often they miss the simple things right in front of their noses. Yah’s creation is certainly complex but at the same time can speak in such simple ways. It lays out the good news, glad tidings, or gospel in such a simple way that most of mankind misses it. I’ve got much more to say about the calendar and His creation order but want to sit with people who are willing to believe Him totally without agenda…love you guys for all you’re doing…be mightily blessed
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Shalom, Shabbat Shalom, Pete,
Andrew Gabriel Roth – the smartest calendar guy I trust. Reach out to him, send greetings from Phil in AK and introduce yourself, share your article and tell him you have questions. Invite him to SC. He lives close by in GA – to celebrate a Feast possibly. I met you and Andrew about the same timeframe at the beginning of our journey. Your topic of calendar study is a beautiful segue to reach out to him. Andrew is busy, but he and Jaye do travel at times to teach and celebrate and they are close by. His email is: onefaithandrew@gmail.com
Blessings,
Phil in AK
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Shalom, Phil! Good to hear from you!
I’ll keep that in mind as an option.
I pray you and family are well. May Yah bless and guide you in your journey!
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Looking forward to your research as I do Avi’s…
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Thanks for your thoughts. Tommy and I studied the Zadok calendar video by Zadok Way (your first video) a couple of years ago because we also had the same inklings. They still have a website but all of their videos have been deleted and I don’t know why. I’m happy to see someone else found one of them and reposted.
We have also watched most of the videos you posted as well. We put our conclusion “on the shelf” because we didn’t know anyone else local who were following this calendar. This year, Pastor Joe from Vine Community, switched to the Zadok calendar. Paradigm shifts can be difficult and they are experiencing one.
YHVH has been restoring…this might be the next step in the restoration! Continuing to watch and pray.
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Very inretesting. Would love to compare notes.
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Please become familiar with the order of creation. Yeshua said in Mark 4 that the earth brings forth seed of herself. This statement clearly uses the order of creation. As does another statement He made. Man was not made for the sabbath the sabbath was made for made. By His words we understand Gen 1:14-19 cannot set the seasons of the Creator’s calendar. The heavenly luminaries were created for the plants. The plants are not created by them
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Shalom. As I read Gen. 1:14-19, the luminaries are specifically created and placed to govern the signs, seasons (moedim), days, and years… they are a precise and predictable ‘clock’ that man can’t tamper with…
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Switching to the Enoch (study 1st Enoch – this prophet was given the calendar almost at the beginning), calendar then study Jubilees chapter 6 – 2nd witness. Pay very close attention to the covenant with Noah and how that blends into the Enoch/Zadok calendar and how vitally important this issue actually is (why it is so contested). When I studied this years ago and switched, wow – has this been confirmed over and over again. If we all listen to the instructions to read the prophets and read “all” of them, the debate will end. Most High said he does nothing but does not reveal things to his prophets. Study Ezekiel 44. Best teaching on calendars are “When does a day start 2besaved.com and advanced is Zadok Calendar study by Asherit Dead Sea Scrolls. Even the Rabbis have admitted the ancient calendar was changed. There is lots of homework to do – and you must research yourself. John 1:28 location IS Qumran on the ancient maps Bethabara. John Baptist was there. Pray for the truth and your eyes to be opened by Most High.
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Thank you for sharing your journey 🙂 I believe The Zadok Priestly Calendar found at Qumran also known as Bathabara in Scripture is the time – piece our Creator provided for finding His Feasts. I have also been studying the constillations that make up the Mazzaroth. It’s very exciting ‼️😊 I’m wondering if we could compare notes on the inner workings of Mazzaroth and how the Tequfah’s play a significant role in the 4 cycles (days) that make up for the 364 days. I was a believer in the “new moon” calendar for 12 years but, with silenced voices of the Zadok Priests crying out from the wilderness when the unearthed truth was discovered. We were able to read the true history, I was in awe and admiration of what they had endured. This is restoration and the evidence is overwhelming for those who have eyes and ears.
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Shalom, Rod.
I would love to compare notes! Just hit the ‘contact us’ link at the tip of the page and drop me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.
Shalom b’shem Yeshua!
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I read your article with interest. You raise some valid questions. I too am suspect of hillel’s calendar but am not convinced of the enochian one yet either. Have you heard of Herb Solinsky? He’s been studying the calendar for 40 or 50 years and has published a lot of helpful literature. He is easy to find on the internet. He also has done research on the dead sea scrolls.
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I’ll do a search and see what comes up. Any recommended link?
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I’m looking into the Zadok calendar these last few weeks also, after almost 20 years in Torah and following Hillel because that’s what hubby chose when he finally woke up. I was glad to leave it to him because 7 years of controversy about the calendar nearly caused me to quit. So stressful! Zadok looks really good to me but I am stuck on the extra 4 days it has when compared to Daniel’s and Revelation’s 360 days. Have you figured out how to explain why the sun travels 364 days now and apparently in the Millennium, but in the tribulation it apparently travels 360 days?
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I don’t have a good answer for that. It’s one if the minor flies in the ointment. Everything else seems to fit very neatly, predictably, make sense scripturally… i’m sort of waiting on Yah for that answer while keeping the Zadokite.
Shalom and blessings!
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