In the creation story Elohim showed Himself to set order to chaos. The record starts like this:
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. :2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Over the next several verses he begins to set things in order, His order.
In the book of Exodus, we see this again. When Moses was commanded to build the Tabernacle Elohim told him to build it after the pattern or the the likeness that he had seen in heaven.
Exo 25:9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
Exo 25:40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
In Exodus and Leviticus, the word arak is used 10 times for the tabernacle and law.
עָרַךְ
‛ârak
aw-rak’
A primitive root; to set in a row, that is, arrange, put in order (in a very wide variety of applications): – put (set) (the battle, self) in array, compare, direct, equal, esteem, estimate, expert [in war], furnish, handle, join [battle], ordain, (lay, put, reckon up, set) (in) order, prepare, tax, value.
Elohim יהוה declares Himself to be a God of order.
Isa 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. :7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.
Since we have proved that there is an intelligent order and design that serves the purpose of Elohim I want to take you back to the book of Genesis.
Gen 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, :5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
From the first chapter of Genesis, we learned that the heavens and the earth were created before the Six Days of Creation. In the second chapter of Genesis, we learned that there were plants (seeds) in the earth that had not germinated because it had not yet rained. The verse also mentions that there was no man to till the earth which supports what we read in Genesis 1:1 that heaven and earth were created before the Six Days of Creation.
We have just seen a snapshot of the order of creation. There was no need for the plants of the adamah, earth, because there was not yet a man to till the earth. The man was to serve the seeds and the earth by tilling the earth and planting the seed.
Interestingly, people never seem to find this little nugget of understanding when it comes to trying to determine the biblical calendar. Most people go to Genesis and jump straight to Genesis 1:14- 19.
Gen 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: :15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. :16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. :17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, :18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. :19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
They quite happily and adamantly use this verse to declare that the barley cannot be Abib until we have had an equinox or an equilux. Let’s test that theory further by building on our understanding of the Order of Creation.
The New Testament has quite a bit to add to our understanding. Let’s compare verses from John chapter one, Colossians chapter one, and Genesis chapter one because they support a specific order or arrangement through which we can better understand other scripture.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. :2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. :4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. :5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
We know Yeshua to be the Word made flesh and with understanding from Colossians we see that everything that was made was made for Him. His arranged order was preeminent, before anything else was created. His position is the light of the first day. His position is the seed that was in the earth the day that Elohim created heaven and earth.
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Yeshua Himself mentions the Order of Creation.
Mar 2:27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
Man was made in the 6th day, the Sabbath was made in the 7th day. Man was not made for the purpose of keeping the Sabbath, the Sabbath was made for the benefit of the man. Likewise, the plants were created on the third day. The sun, moon, and stars were created on the 4th day. The plants were not created for the benefit of or controlled by the luminaries in the heavens. The luminaries in the heavens were created for the benefit of the plants.
In another verse, Yeshua mentions that the earth brings forth fruit of itself, He mentions no need of sunlight, moonlight, equinox, or equilux.
Mar 4:26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; :27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. :28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. :29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
“Others” have ridiculed this idea citing science and the need of sunlight to create chlorophyll in plants. But have they ever considered that the earth can bring forth fruit without sunlight? I would like to give us all a perfect example of what I’m Speaking about.
Behold the white fruit of a sun-starved asparagus that the earth brought forth below the post.
”White asparagus, however, is grown completely under the soil or covered with plastic so it is never exposed to sunlight. This prevents photosynthesis, keeping the spears milky white. As they grow, more dirt is mounded up around them, keeping them covered until harvest.”
Sure enough, the earth brings forth fruit of itself. The sunlight of day four only supports the plants of day three. The luminaries support the plants process of making chlorophyll. It’s easy to see if you believe you need the equinox or equilux to start the year how you could be fooled into thinking the plants serve the will of the luminaries in heaven. I’ll stand with Yeshua’s words any day, any time, and any place.
We were told in genesis chapter two that the plants had not been activated because there was no man. When Adam fell there was a very specific curse that was placed on the earth and very specific responsibility that was placed on Adam. Adams responsibility was to bring forth bread from the cursed earth.
Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; :18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; :19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
The fall of Adam activated the seeds that were placed in the earth in the day that Elohim created heaven and earth. The seeds that Adam was required to plant are seeds that make bread.
The command to grow and make bread preceded the feasts listed in Leviticus 23. But it’s in Leviticus 23 and Exodus 9:31-32 we learn which grains make bread that Elohim cares about. And it’s in Exodus 9:31-32 we learn which type of seed is the plant that becomes Abib, it was barley.
Could it be that “others” rely on the historian Josephus to tell them when to begin the year?
It’s hard to say when the nation of Israel forgot or decided to not follow the seed that was commanded to be activated when Adam fell. A deep study scriptural about barley will reveal barley points to the fall of Adam. In barley’s position in the feast which is in the week of Unleavened Barley we keep the yeast/sin out of barley. Sin caused Adam’s fall. I’m very sure at one point they understood this.
Sometimes is seems Josephus specifically makes note of the things that had changed with time to leave a record of it and explain why it had changed. Consider what he wrote in the following paragraph:
The Antiquities of the Jews, 3.237–3.257
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. 249The feast of unleavened bread succeeds that of the Passover, and falls on the fifteenth day of the month, and continues seven days, wherein they feed on unleavened bread;
“The first point of Aries, also known as the cusp of Aries, is the location of the vernal equinox (March equinox)” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_point_of_Aries
At this point in Israel’s history, a choice had been made at some point to keep the feasts in sync with the timing of when the Israelite nation was delivered from Egypt, as Josephus has very carefully noted. They were no longer following the order of creation or worrying about the timing of when the earth brought forth the annual fruit or harvest of barley.
Nevertheless, we know Yeshua to be the promised seed and the first fruits of them that slept. We also know the words from Colossians that tell us Yeshua had the preeminent position of all things. The Seed, Yeshua, was in the earth in the day that Elohim created heaven and earth.
Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
Everything was created for Yeshua and everything points to Him and He points to the Father.
Therefore there is no scriptural mandate to use the equinox, the equilux, any portion of Genesis 1:14 -19 in consideration at the beginning of the biblical year.