The Solar Calendar

   The Sun rules the day and without its light, life as we know it on earth would not be possible. Earth life is dependent upon the light of the Sun for its energy and growth. Thus, it is a powerful symbol for spiritual light or enlightenment. Light and Life go hand in hand, [John 1:3-5, Gen. 1:3-5]. As the sun passes through its 365.2224- day, annual course it "dwells" in each of the 12 houses of its "civil year" of the zodiac for one month. The Sun moves in its circuit at a rate of 12 miles a second or 43,200 miles per hour, with its train of planets in our solar system between the boundary lines of the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Interestingly, the sun's orbital speed is 1/10th of half of its perimeter in miles [864,000], as a multiple of the unity of according to the base 60 precessional standard of measurement, of the ruling master cycle all . The base 60 number system also breaks down into the basic numbers of 6 x 10. This exhibits the relation between the civil [lunar], and sacred [solar] years of the Hebrew calendar, in context of precession. Fittingly, 6 and 10 also provide the basis for the golden section ratio also known as phi: 1.618 (10 by 6.18, or 100 by 61.8...). In addition to unifying the structure of the human body, the musical scale, planetary orbits, biological growth cycles and the Hebrew Calendar, this phi ratio proves to be the key element in the correlation of the eclipse cycle with the solar year.Space-TimeSpace-Time

   The numbers that highlight the Jubilee cycle [Levi. 25:4,8] are a combination of seven, twelve and fifty which are at the core of God's division of in the day and night. We can see the roots of His "sacred geometry" in the famous 3-4-5 triangle, popularized in the ancient world by the Pythagoreans, but applied long before them by Elohim the Creator and "Great Geometer," as the Pythagoreans called Him. The affinity between the numbers seven and twelve is found in this unique triangle because the sum of 3 + 4 gives the number of days in the week of Creation, the blue -print of all seven-day weeks to follow. It also numbers the seven spiritual administrations that make up all time. The sum of 3+4+5 gives us the number of 12 Months in a year, relating to the signs of the zodiac and the 12 tribes of Israel. The sum of it's square's gives us the number fifty related to Pentecost and the Hebrew Jubilee. When we multiply 3 x 4 x 5 it equals the base 60 number standard underlying the precessional order of all in creation. The graphic below shows the relation of the 3-4-5 triangle to the double square rectangle as it it found in the dimensions of the Kings Chamber of the Great Pyramid.



   The number seven is a hallmark number for God's organization of temporal matters in Creation. It indicates the signature of the Hand of the Creator and His spiritual perfection incorporated in His Intelligent Design of Creation. It is the Living God speaking by way of His Words and His Works. Like the stamped seal of His signet ring, the number seven is water-marked regularly in the divine division of His times and seasons. There were first seven days in the Sabbath Week of Creation and seven times these seven days began Israel's counting unto Pentecost. As Tishri, the holiest month of Israel's Calendar is the seventh, so the seventh year is the Sabbatical Year, making the sacred order of God's temporal division plain. Seven times these seven years brings us unto the fiftieth year of the Jubilee in Israel. Some have wisely considered the candlestick or Menorah, to be a sacred symbol of seven, not only of the Sabbath week of Creation, but also the seven stars of the seven angels of the seven churches, and their epistles, as Rev. 1:20 teaches. As we will see this pattern of seven continues in the structure and services of the Temple and Tabernacle, since they are symbols in miniature of the pattern of heavenly things, [Heb. 8:5]. Along with seven, twelve & fifty, (phi) 1.618, the numerical ratio of the golden section, has been found to govern botanical, animal and human growth cycles relating to the Hebrew harvests seasons marked in their calendar. These agricultural growth cycles are in turn governed by the cycles of the Sunlight via photosynthesis in plants, indicating light's dominion over the four kingdoms of life on the earth. Edersheim makes reference to the significance of the number seven in Hebrew time reckoning:Space-TimeSpace-Time

   The Sabbath is the seventh of days; seven weeks after the commencement of the ecclesiastical year is the Feast of Pentecost; the seventh month is more sacred than the rest, its "firstborn" or being not only devoted to the Lord like those of other months, but specially celebrated as the "Feast of Trumpets," while three other festivals occur within its course, the Feast of Tabernacles, its Octave, and the Day of Atonement. Similarly each seventh year is Sabbatical, and after seven times seven years comes that of Jubilee.³ (New Moonemphasis mine)

   This points out the recognition that the Hebrew calendar gives to the relationship between Tishri 1, the day of trumpets and the birth of Christ. Every seventh or Sabbatical year also commenced on the Day of Atonement during the sacred 7th month of Tishri & according to Dr. Martin, the year of 27-28 AD, Jesus' 30th year & the year of the opening of his ministry to Israel, was a Sabbatical Year.⁴ Just as the Sabbatical year was a year of rest and restoration for the land and soil, so also was the Jubilee, which was heralded by a chorus of trumpets. What better year than a Sabbatical year could there be for Jesus to carry out his ministry? What better day could there be for the renewal of all Creation, than the birthday of the promised seed enacting it's recovery? 28 A.D. was also the year that Jesus was resurrected and in this "year of our Lord," Christ Jesus proved his Lordship over both the Sabbaths of days and years, for example by working seven healing miracles on seven Sabbath Days of rest during his ministry to Israel.

   Of special interest in the sacred seventh month, is the lunar cycle which provided the basis of the Hebrew calendar, being devoted to the Lord. On Tishri 1 the first-born or New Moon day, was specially celebrated at the "Feast of Trumpets," which coincided with the first appearance of the thin crescent moon under Virgo's feet on this natal day of creation, the Day of Trumpets, our September 11th, 3 BC. Thus, from a wider view, we can see how the Hebrew calendar synchronizes the days, years and seasons of secular time to the sacred harvests and religious feasts, each with their own spiritual significance. This entire temporal order is set in the context of the great cosmic cycle of precession, which surely was observed and applied by the Biblical Patriarchs in antiquity, before their calendar was even officially enacted in the Old Covenant Laws. We can say this with certainty because God revealed the principles of the celestial order to Adam figured in the "tree of life," [Gen. 2:9] consummated in [Rev. 22:2]. We also find these principles applied by Noah in his calendar, which is a separate study on this website. Adam would have had a complete understanding of the related orders of the Sun, Moon and Stars, especially how each of these cycles, like the tropical and sidereal zodiacs coordinated with the other.

   Our awareness of the history of Biblical Astronomy gains a new enlightenment as we adopt the Biblical context of these Patriarchal astronomers regarding their outlook of the heavens, resulting from God's revelation of His design of the cosmos. In the Creator's Revelatory Astronomy, the Patriarchs viewed the poles, ecliptic and Equator all relative to the orientation of earth's axis, showing the awesome phenomena of precession as part of the Creator's plan to illustrate the figurative geocentric of the earth's central location in the firmament. The earth, is not the literal center of the firmament, but because it is the object of the light shed by the other celestial bodies [Gen. 1:14-16], it is the focal point and thus, figurative center of Creation as man's garden home. This is an aspect of the idea of the Sun's dual year, since the solar year depicts a heliocentric, or sun-centered solar system, noting it's daily illumination from earth's view, as the central light of heaven. Thus the spiritual significance of the precession of the equinoxes is seen, not only in the ages decreed by the sun's residence in a particular sign of the zodiac, but also in the Biblical message of that sign in relation to the returning promised seed. This is the spiritual message the heavenly Father intended to be communicated over the face of the Earth, a far cry from the "astrological ages" promoted in various cultural myths throughout history. We can also ascertain that a heliocentric astronomical view is companion with the precessional awareness exhibited by the Biblical Patriarchs, as we will see presently. Only with a Scriptural view of the precession of the equinoxes in its true Biblical context, can we gain the wisdom that God has stored for us in Creation's master temporal cycle. Although at times we see the true light shining through the jaundiced veneers of Astrology and world mythology, we gain an unobstructed view when we take heed to the two part harmony of God's written Word, with His celestial gospel. This approach truly provides the missing written record that archaeo-astronomers have longed for.

Earth's Axis and Precession

   As part of the Creator's grand design, the 25,920-year precessional cycle of the sun's apparent retrograde motion against the backdrop of the tropical zodiac, depicts the Sun's dwelling in successive precessional ages, dictated by the earth's shifting axis of and equatorial pole. Thus, with the precession of the vernal point, or vernal equinox in mind, the Earth is centrally located, depicting the earth's figurative geocentrism referred to above, but not merely with respect to the solar system. The centrality of the Earth involves a much larger cosmic district than the little community roundabout of our solar system. As Genesis 1:16-17 states, not only the Sun and Moon but also the Stars were to shed their light upon the Earth. This encompasses the entire zodiacal structure, the stars of the ecliptic, the Equator and the poles.Symmetry

   The earth is the figurative center of Creation and the object of the three-fold celestial light shed from the heavens. The purpose and beauty of the witness of the heavens is to shed their threefold light upon the earth, and God began with the dual year of the Sun, as we will see in Psalm 19 and in Joseph's two dreams in Genesis 37. We find this dual year, in the Sun's annual cycle and precessional cycles. The ancient view of these dual solar cycles, was based on line-of-sight relationships, even as zodiacal signs and eclipses only hold meaning from an earth-axis viewpoint. Over time this devolved into the view that the earth was the literal center of creation, forming the basis of later geocentric theories. Similarly, as the figurative representation of the Sun as the source of life became literally deified by the heathens, a result was the idolatry of Sun worship inherent through much of ancient world myth and Astrology. The Earth, of course, is not the literal center of creation, but God created it as man's garden home and as the object of God's Love and care for His human family, He showers humanity with His greatest Love as told in the threefold celestial Light. Let's take a more detailed look at what God's Word tells us of the precession of the equinoxes.

The Sun's Cycle of Precession

   Let's begin with some initial Biblical evidence of the precession in Psalm 19, as an introduction to the significance of the Sun's "dual year," or its annual and precessional cycles, the two prime standards for astronomical time. This differentiates the Sun's dual year, first seen in it's annual cycle, spending one month in each sign of the zodiac, as opposed to its retrograde precessional cycle, where it spends a "great month" or 2,160 solar years in successive signs of the ecliptic. When it passes through all twelve signs of the tropical zodiac, the Sun completes its cycle of the "great year," in about 25,920 solar years. The sixth verse of the 19^th Psalm briefly refers to this apparent retrograde motion of the Sun:

Psalm 19:6
His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

   "His going forth is from the end of the heaven...is a reference to the course of the sun's path through the ecliptic, so called because all the solar and lunar eclipses occur on this course. The words "going forth" in Hebrew are mowtsa [*H4161], meaning the dawn, the east, a gate, the rising of the sun. ⁵

   Thus it refers to the place or gate of the rising of the sun, that indicates the sun's retrograde precessional movement, because the sun rises in a different "gate," or successive zodiacal house on average every 2,160 years. The sun's annual cycle, or solar year is seen in "his circuit" above, which in the Hebrew is (*H8622) tequphah: rendered, "at the end of the year" in II Chron. 24:23, an obvious reference to this annual solar cycle. Thus we have in brief, a Biblical contrast between these two solar cycles. The record of Joseph's dreams in Genesis 37 will take us into greater depth on the Biblical testimony of precession. Joseph's second dream in Gen. 37: 9-11 reveals a precessional context, with its use of stellar terms, especially the "eleven stars making obeisance" to his star or sign, of the Bull, Taurus. These 12 "stars" of Joseph's dream correlate with the 12 sons of Jacob in Gen. 49 making up the Sidereal zodiac. One can also look at the precession of the Vernal equinox as the tropical zodiac appearing to retrograde against the fixed background of the sidereal zodiac of the stars. Thus, the record of Joseph's second dream reveals astronomical truth that his first dream with an agricultural theme, does not.

Genesis 37:5-11
And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. [6] And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: [7] For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance [H7812] to my sheaf. [8] And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign [H4427] over us? Or shalt thou indeed have dominion [H4910] over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. [9] And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance [H7812] to me. [10] And he told it to his father and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down [H7812] ourselves to thee to the earth? [11] And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

  Taurus the Bull, as Joseph's sign in the Hebrew zodiac was split into its two horns, representing his sons Ephraim and Mannasseh [Num. 2:18-20 & Deut. 33:17]. This was done to accommodate a substitution for the rebellious tribe of Dan, made in the circle of the twelve Hebrew tribes, the twelve signs of the Sidereal zodiac. This allowed for the Levitical 13th tribe to be placed in the center of the zodiac's circle, the pattern of the stars mirrored in the seed of Israel, as they camped around their Tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai during their forty years of wandering. This relation of the Levitical 13th tribe to the Sun, could be a symbolic reference to the regular Intercalation of a 13th month in the Hebrew Calendar. The Levites, being the priestly tribe, had the charge of the affairs relating to the Tabernacle, which housed the Ark of the Covenant. An aspect of the Tabernacle's celestial plan can be found in the edifice of the wooden framework that provided a foundation upon which the Tabernacle's curtains [H3407] (Ps. 104:2-3, Isa. 40:22, Ex. 26, 36), hung. They were assembled from 48 units, each ten cubits high, and 1.5 cubits wide...⁶ This implies the structure of these 12 zodiacal signs including their 36 decans, (12+36=48) which are divided into ten degree decans, showing not only God's celestial order in the tabernacle of the Sun [Ps.19:4], but also marking the earthly Tabernacle as the focal point of the spiritual light of God's presence among His people during the Old Testament. This was established in the priestly order of service instituted in the Temple by King David, with 24 courses of priests, each serving two times during Israel's calendar year, totaling 48 weeks. When the three weeks of Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles are included, wherein all the priests served, we have the 51 weeks of Israel's luni-solar year, divided according to sacred and civil standards. The sacred year began in Nisan, the month of the spring Passover, while the civil year in the fall started with the seventh month Tishri 1, the Day of Trumpets signaling the onset of Israel's holiest month. This depicts the Creator's light reflected in the celestial structure of creation, ruling over the Hebrew timekeeping, manifest in the sacred architecture and service of the Old Testament Tabernacle and Temple, fulfilled in Jesus Christ as the King and High Priest, after the order of Melchisedek.
   The Ark represented the fullness of the presence and power of God that could be manifested on Earth, amid the men of the administration of the Old Testament Law. As the "Sun" of the Hebrew Zodiac, the risen Morning Star will enliven humanity as their Savior and enlighten them as the light of the world. Here we see the Sun functioning as a "solar collector" as it moves through the various houses of its precessional cycle, reflecting the stellar light of the age upon the Earth. Once again we find Biblical evidence regarding the Hebrew zodiac, structured as the earliest known heliocentric model, as seen in the Menorah Solar System, far ahead of Aristarchus of Samos (270 BC), who was the first of the ancient Greeks to re-submit the idea of a Sun centered cosmos. With the light of the world at the center of the Hebrew zodiac, we see the original roots for a Sun-centered solar system that Copernicus gets credit for, in spite of the neolithic antagonism of the Roman Catholic Church centuries after his death. This idea was first put forth and established with the Hebrew Menorah, which was structured on a celestial plan of the ancient solar system of seven celestial bodies, with the Sun as the central candlestick [Rev.1:20], always enlightening the Earth, exhibiting the natural affinity of a precessional awareness with a heliocentric viewpoint.

The Hebrew Menorah

   A key to understanding this part of Genesis 37 is found as we take notice of details in the record, specifically; the obeisance made by the sun, moon, and the eleven stars to Joseph's sign of Taurus the Bull. The first dream makes no reference to Joseph's parent's who are represented as the Sun and Moon in the second dream. Their praise of Joseph's star is added to that of the eleven stars of his brothers. The meaning of the Hebrew word (*H7812 shachah) to bow down, is to depress, prostrate oneself (in homage to royalty or God), to bow oneself down, to humbly beseech, worship or to do obeisance.⁷ This word is used as indicated in verses 7, 9 & 10 above, in reference not only to the sheaves of the field, but also to the sun, moon and eleven stars, with Joseph being the twelfth. Here we can see an image of the Hebrew zodiac foreshadowing the prophecy of Jacob over his twelve sons in Genesis 49, as an image of the Sidereal zodiac, seen as both the sheaves (earthly seed; Genesis 13:15-17) and stars (heavenly seed; Genesis 15:4-6), both relating to prophecies concerning Israel. Here we can see a record where the witness of the Stars lines up with the witness of the Scriptures according to the revelation of God to Joseph, to preserve the line of the promised seed of Israel, that the enemy was trying to wipe out with the famine that took Jacob to Egypt.

   Joseph's first dream had a terrestrial interpretation which was seen in Genesis 45: 8 & 26, where the same Hebrew word used in verse 8, for "dominion" (maschal), is used with an immediate application to Joseph's political position as "ruler throughout all the land of Egypt." This was fulfilled when Jacob brought his family to Egypt according to God's direction [Gen. 46:3-4], where Joseph was governor.

   The second dream however, being celestial in nature, shows a clear distinction from the first of these two dreams, indicating that there is another aspect of these signs of the ecliptic that we, as students of Biblical Astronomy, need to be aware of. The usage of (*H7812) here in Genesis 37, in relation to Joseph's sign of Taurus, is distinctly different than in Genesis 49:8, where it states regarding Judah that: "thy Father's children shall bow down (*H7812) before thee." Obviously, even though the same Hebrew word is used for the homage that Jacob's children would give to both Judah and Joseph, it cannot mean for the same reason.

   The homage due Judah in Genesis 49 has a distinct celestial significance covered in our detailed look at Genesis 49:8 in the triple Conjunction of Jupiter-Regulus marking the birth of Christ, but for our purposes here Judah's dominion refers to the Sun's annual cycle through the zodiac seen in the Great Sphinx, where the woman's head in Virgo, and the body of Leo the Lion are married, joining the two ends of the zodiac in this famous guardian of Giza.

   The regal lion represents the homage due to Leo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the king of the Hebrew zodiac, seated on David's throne; [Luke 1:32], born from Virgo the Woman and queen-Israel the earthly seed. Conversely, Joseph's dominion refers to the Sun's cycle of precession, and its dominion over the Sun, Moon, and the eleven Stars. The rule of the precessional cycle as the master cycle of the heavens is not only seen here in its Biblical context, but also carries into the various legends of the world, because the precession of the equinoxes has spawned hundreds of heathen myths documented by many authorities in Archaeo-Astronomy including, E.C. Krupp, also Hertha von Dechend and Giorgio de Santillana in their classic work Hamlet's Mill. The path that the Sun travels annually through all twelve signs of the zodiac takes a solar year to complete. But at the end of the year the Sun does not return to the same point in the sign where it began the year, but is a little behind it... about 1 degree every 72 years. Thus it would take about 25,920 years for the sun to complete this vast retrograde circle through all 12 signs called the precession of the equinoxes. Here the Sun dwells in, or rises in each of the twelve houses of the zodiac for a period of about 2,160 years, which is the average length of a precessional age, because the Sidereal zodiac is divided into 12 irregular signs, while the tropical zodiac is portioned into 12 equal 30 degree arcs, as seen in Noah's Calendar. It is the recognition of these two separate years that gives rise to the awareness of the precession of the equinoxes.

Genesis 37:10b-11 "Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

   Jacob's response to Joseph's dream is enlightening because Jacob himself and [Rebecca] are represented by him, to be the Sun and the Moon, who together "made obeisance" to Joseph's sign--Taurus, in his dream. This shows the Sun's solar year and Moon's lunar year, along with the star's sidereal year, all in subjection to the base 60 standard of the Sun's abode in precessional cycles. Jacob's reference to the Sun and Moon in the dream as, "I and thy mother" shows the marriage of the solar & lunar calendars, harmonized according to the phi proportion, synchronized to the fifty-year Jubilee cycle of Israel. This is the same dynamic we witness below in connection with the Moon goddess Selene in Greek Mythology. This accents the custom of Intercalation by the Biblical Patriarchs Jacob and Joseph prior to Moses. When we consider the influence of Joseph as the Grand Vizier of Egypt following this record in Genesis 37, we may have found some of the earliest recorded acts of the Intercalation of the luni-solar calendar according to the phi ratio. There is later Biblical evidence of the Intercalation of months according to the Mosaic standards set in Num. 9:11ff. The record of the second Passover carried out by King Hezekiah in II Chron. 30:1ff, is an example of the insertion of a second Adar (13th) month. There were also cases where a second Elul month was added in Israel's history. History tells us that King Hammurabi also used an intercalary second month of Adar (Adaru), at the end of the year, but the ancient Babylonians also practiced adding an extra 6th month of Elul called "Ululu" in their calendar. This was done usually when the two years had gotten too far out of synch.⁸ Due to the irregularity of these practices in Babylon, they were probably motivated by agricultural considerations as opposed to their understanding of the numerical Symmetry underlying the temporal order. Thus on one level, this record of Joseph's dream underscores the kinship between the cycles of the Sun, Moon & Stars in view of precession, and in light of the Hebrew calendar.

   This insight into the record of Joseph's dreams in Genesis 37 provides a basis for the Astronomy of the Biblical Patriarchs, especially their knowledge of the twelve signs of the zodiac, the harmonizing of the solar and lunar years, all in the ruling context of precession. We must be mindful that the Biblical Patriarchs were the experts of Biblical Astronomy because their gospel was the Stars. They had not received the written Scriptures as of yet, but they knew the "Covenant of Day and Night," as Jeremiah called it, better than anyone and were privy to its hidden secrets and mysteries, whose surface we are only beginning to scratch! This astronomical expertise was carried into ancient Sumeria and Babylon as recorded in the context of the "tower of Babel," providing the basis of ancient Babylonian Astronomy and was later perverted in their Astrology. This astronomical expertise of the Biblical Patriarchs is one reason why Jacob "observed the saying," of Joseph's dream as Genesis 37:11 says.

   The Hebrew word for "observed" [*H8104-shamar], means: "to keep, guard, preserve, protect, retain, to observe as a covenant the commandments of God [Gen. 17:9-10, 18:19], and to revere."⁹ It refers to the careful attention paid to the obligations of a covenant, as Abraham gave orders to "Keep the Way of the Lord." The details of this Covenant of day and night, written in the stars are exactly what Jacob was protecting. When he noted the details of his beloved son's celestial dream, he took great care to scrutinize the Word of the Lord as it came in this dream. After all, he was only following his Grandfather's instructions, to keep the way of the Lord, for their Patriarchal Administration.

   The cycles of the Sun and Moon bowing down to Taurus tells us that the precessional Age of Taurus is indicated, which is consistent with the witness of Numbers 23-24, that detail the precessional markers for this age. This precessional knowledge filtered through ancient Egypt and was applied along with the Sothic Calendar, during the Age of Taurus, as many archaeo-astronomers have documented. Even as Abraham is historically recorded among the first teachers of the ancient Egyptians, There were others before him. As Jacob's grandfather, Jacob also would have been schooled in this Academy of Patriarchal . This exerted a powerful influence on the Astronomy of the ancient Near East. We find this knowledge applied in the stellar alignment of many ancient Egyptian temples oriented to zodiacal signs signifying the related precessional age, providing strong evidence that the ancients not only knew of the precessional cycle, but also applied it in a religious context, in building their temples. We will also find symbolic references to precession in the Hebrew Tabernacle and Temple. With this overview of the of the Biblical Patriarchs concerning precession, lets now consider the lunar calendar, the most ancient of these three calendars.AstronomyAstronomy

The Lunar Calendar

   The Moon has both positive and negative connotations and we will endeavor to take notice of both. The Israelites recognized the start of the New Moon, correlating it to the beginning of their months. As we have just seen, their practice of Intercalation of months dates back to the age of the Biblical Patriarchs, before the time of Moses, who instituted the sacred observances of the Old Testament Law during Israel's wanderings in the wilderness in the mid-second millenium BC. This preceded Meton of Athens who is given credit for discovering the lunar cycle called a saros in 432 BC, by at least 1000 years. The roots of the word "saros" and its practices however, are much older. Israel's calendar was governed by the 354-355 day lunar year with twelve months of 29 or 30 days. The named months of the Israelite year coincided with the Babylonian months, after the Babylonian Captivity, including Adar Sheni, the intercalary 13th month, which was added to keep the solar year aligned with the seasons and the lunar cycle. This practice of intercalating months kept the sacred holidays of Passover, Pentecost & Rosh Hashanah, New Year's Day, in their proper seasons of early spring, the early summer and summer's end. The 11-day gap between the solar and lunar years expands to a period of 7 months over the 19-year lunar saros. During this 19-year period there are 235 full moons in the Metonic Cycle. If we divide 235 by 19, we get 12 7/19, [12.368] full Moons, synodic, or lunar months of 29.53 days per year. There are 13.368 sidereal months or 12.368 synodic months, the time it takes the Moon to return to the same point in the sky against the backdrop of the stars, in each year.¹⁰

According to the New Bible Dictionary in reference to the significance of the names Jachin and Boaz, "the names may be the first words of oracles giving power to the Davidic dynasty: perhaps 'Yahweh will establish (yakin) thy throne forever' and 'In the strength (beoz) of Yahweh shall the king rejoice' or something similar."²² Thus, as the kings of Israel stood in their place, by their pillar in the temple during the coronation ceremony, so the coronation of the King of kings, seen in the stellar heralding of his birth, was also marked by one of the four celestial pillars of heaven. At this center point in history, near the autumnal equinox, with the Moon at the feet of Virgo, with the setting of the star Spica-Al Zemach, the moments of the birth of Jesus Christ were framed in the heavens. This was followed 3 days later by the first of a triple coronation ceremony that occurred, beginning in the first Jupiter-Regulus Conjunction in Leo.

The Scene at Sunset on 9-11-3BC with the Sun in Virgo witth the Moon at her Feet.

   This reference to the Feasts of Tabernacles and Passover in the pillar's chapiters dividing the year in half according to the sacred calendar, remind us of the relation of the luni-solar year that is evident in the cycle of Jubilees. The Feast of Tabernacles was the third of the great annual feasts of the Hebrew sacred calendar, beginning on the fifteenth of the month, which was the height of the full Moon. It determined the start, and closed the annual sacred cycle of the Sabbatical year and the agricultural year, while also marking the change of seasons. Coming during the seventh or most sacred month with its Moon at full strength, shows us another stamp of seven in the temporal order of this feast. Each of the offerings associated with the Feast of Tabernacles was marked also by the number 7, indicating its completion, satisfaction and spiritual perfection 70 bullocks, 14 rams, 98 lambs, equaling 82 sacrifices [26 x 7] plus 336 [48 x 7] tenths of ephahs of flour for meat offerings}.²³ Thus, man was to share of his abundance in honor and respect to God according to the same spiritual standard of abundance by which he had received it from the Creator and accordingly live his life in honor and praise to his Heavenly Father. Edersheim comments further on the significance of the number seven in his book The Temple, where he states:

"What the seventh day, or sabbath was to the week, the seventh month seems to have been to the year." ²⁴

   Thus it would follow that, as Pentecost was to Passover in that it followed it by fifty days (7x7+1), so the Jubilee followed in years. Leviticus 25:8 relates the "seven Sabbaths of years" to the 50th year of the Jubilee, which fell on the Day of Atonement, or the tenth day of the holiest seventh month of Tishri. In the same way that liberty was proclaimed in the Jubilee, throughout all the land and to all its inhabitants [Levi. 25:10], so Jesus set at liberty them that were bruised, while proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord at the opening of his ministry. This is interesting when we observe that there are thirty Jubilees that bring us from the Exodus to the opening of Christ's ministry, when opening the scroll to Isa. 61:2, he certified the "acceptable year of the Lord" in a 7-fold prophecy, (Lk. 4:18-21).²⁵ This fits neatly with the truth that in fulfilling the O.T. Law as the embodiment of the Passover male lamb of the first year [Exod. 12:5), Jesus was in the first year of his manhood according to Hebrew reckoning, beginning at thirty years old. During this specific period of 70 weeks; [Dan. 9:24] decreed by God as the period to fulfill this Messianic redemption wherein he ministered to Israel, he was crucified, resurrected, & ascended, exploding the myth that his ministry lasted till he was thirty-three. The preceding overview of the lunar cycle in its more positive light, sets the stage for our look at its negative aspects.

Lunar Eclipses and Occultations

   We have seen some positive aspects of lunar symbolism in the foregoing section. When we consider lunar occultation activity and other aspects of the lunar eclipse cycle however, the symbolism turns decidedly negative. This concept may be rooted in the fact the Moon moves 13 degrees per day and orbits the earth 13 times a year. Biblically the number 13 represents: rebellion, apostasy and corruption going back to its first occurrence in God's Word [Gen. 14:4], where Chedorlaomer was served 12 years and in the 13th year they rebelled.²⁶ The coordinated solar (12 month) and lunar (13 month) cycles that we have observed converging during eclipses, according to the Rhythm of the phi ratio [1.618], allows us to see that even though the Sun is 400 times larger than the Moon, the Moon is 400 times closer to the Earth! Only from our geocentric viewpoint does it appear that the Sun and Moon are the same size, as they shed their light upon the Earth. The old superstitions associated with the lesser light ruling over the night, do not automatically presuppose astrological activity. In his book Cosmos, Carl Sagan pointed out that; "Disaster," is from a Greek word meaning "bad star," influenza is Italian for "astral influence" & "mazeltov" is Hebrew & old Babylonian for "good ."²⁷ We can see here the Hebrew roots Mazzaroth [Job 38:32] and Mazzaloth, linked with the modern usage of "." And, "Mazzaroth-The Constellations" is the title of Frances Rollerston's classic reference on Biblical Astronomy. The Greek word "disaster" or the Italian "influenza" as negative "astral influences," is not a concept confined to ancient times. South Americans blamed a destructive outbreak of influenza on a solar eclipse as late as 1918! This idea of sickness and disease associated with the lunar cycle is one we will develop here in more Biblical detail. To give a fuller consideration of this lunar symbolism, it is also helpful to view the mythological history associated with the lunar eclipse and occultation.ConstellationConstellation

  Lunar eclipses are a result of the activities of the Moon in its monthly ascending and descending nodes, which always lie opposite one another on the ecliptic. Eclipses coincide with the Moon's orbit intersecting the ecliptic. Solar and Lunar eclipses only occur when the Full or New Moon is within a six degree range of the lunar Node. The line connecting these nodes, the two "dragon points" where the Moon crosses the ecliptic, called the "Line of Nodes." The motion of this mythic line generates the 18.618-year eclipse cycle, but the Moon does not return to the same spot in the sky until it has gone through three of these cycles, totaling just under 56 years. This is called "precession of the nodes."²⁸ The influence of the golden section or phi ratio seems apparent here, as it was in the saros, because during the 18.618-year eclipse cycle, the Line of Nodes recedes in the "precession of the nodes"19.618 days each year. The ancients conceived of the lunar nodes as a large celestial dragon. An apt example of this is found in old Arabian astronomy, where the two aspects of the Draconic Month were known as the Head and Tail of the Dragon. R.H. Allen enlightens us on some of this history:

"Firuzabadi referred to a Ras al Tinnin and Dhanab al Tinnin in the heavens, as the Dragon's Head and Tail; but these have no connection with our Draco, reference being there made solely to the ascending and descending nodes in the orbits of the moon and planets known to Arabian astronomers under these titles. This idea seems to have originated from the fact that the Moon's undulating course was symbolized by that of the stellar Hydra; had the latter word been used instead of "Dragon," the expression would now be better understood. But it was understood to seamen as late as the 16th century, for "the head and tayle of the Dragon" appears in Eden's Dedication, of 1574, to Sir Wyllyam Wynter"²⁹ [emphasis mine]

The graphic below is a disc from Apian's Astronomicum Ceasareum (1540 AD). It illustrates the ascending and descending lunar Nodes (dragon's head & tail), in calendrical calculation of the solar and lunar eclipses.

   This historical connection of lunar eclipses with the Dragon is especially interesting in light of the stellar Hydra. Hydra is one of the serpentine celestial signs representative of the enemy cast down and destroyed. This is depicted on the ecliptic as the Hydra that is stationed beneath the extended claws of Leo the Lion, pouncing on the serpent to destroy it. The key element separating Hydra from Draco, is that Draco is a circumpolar sign while Hydra is on the ecliptic, beneath its eastern quarter and the spring equinox. Its position below this important celestial pillar and encompassing four zodiacal signs, the ancients conceived the Hydra as a vast stellar dragon swallowing the Sun or Moon during an eclipse.

   This explains Allen's footnote to the same reference above that: "the nodical month is called the Draconic Month." Allen's comment that: had Hydra been used instead of "Dragon," the term would now be better understood, makes specific reference to the location of Hydra on the ecliptic, where the eclipse cycles of the nodical month are observed, not at the North Pole. St. Augustine records some pertinent details from the ritual of the "opening of the heavens" in Manichaean Myth, related to the lunar Node:

" celestial powers came out of the ships of the Sun and Moon to go and seduce the Archons by taking the forms of young naked men and women. Since this conception would have put the Sun and Moon among the benefic powers, they were replaced in the list of seven perverse planets, by the head and tail of the dragon-that is by the two nodes of the lunar orbit--invisible points made manifest only by the eclipses they were supposed to cause, and between which the body of the fabulous monster itself could be traced."³⁰(emphasis mine)

   St. Augustine agrees with Firuzabadi on the significant point that the Sun & Moon were replaced by the head and tail of the dragon in certain astrological circles, since Firuzabadi does not even mention the Sun, but only the Moon, it's nodes and the planets, in this reference. This appears as more evidence of the dragon's attempt to blot out the three-fold light of the sun, (as with eclipses) replacing it with the lesser light ruling the night, linked to Astrology. Perhaps we can see a link to Draco or, on another level the relation above between the pole and the ecliptic, with its tropical boundaries including the Draconic Month. This connection is possible because, when Thuban-alpha draconis was the pole star, it represented the serpent as "the god of this world, winding in his contortions round the pole of the world, as if to indicate its subtle influence in all worldly affairs."³¹

   These lunar contortions around the earth's vertical axis, thus represent the horizontal application of the Hydra's dominion in these worldly affairs, empowered by Draco, vertical at the North Pole. This explains the comparison of Hydra with the Draconic Month, which resolves the lunar eclipse cycle, blocking sunlight from the earth. Thus we can see why the lunar occultation and eclipse could symbolize the horizontal operation of the serpent's seed, a theme found in the celestial signs surrounding the birth of Christ.

   Perhaps this symbolizes the serpent's secret devices related to his dealings with his seed and like the dark side of the Moon, is never fully visible from Earth, remaining unseen by the naked eye. We do not need to witness these treacherous dealings because the dark side of the Moon is fully illuminated every New Moon. Thus, nothing escapes the All-seeing vision of the Father of Lights and nothing can hide from His ultimate Light that reveals everything in its time. As we remain in the tender care of His Omnipotent and loving Hand of protection and blessing, we are covered and protected against any device or weapon formed by the adversary.

   As stated earlier, relating to the lunar occultation of Regulus, the Moon seems to symbolize the activities of the serpent's seed. One aspect of these activities is dispersing pain and sickness via the influence of the spirit realm. This notion is found in the Greek word for "lunatick" [Matt. 4:24], which puts the sick and those "possessed with devils" in the same breath as those "which were lunatick."

Matthew 4:24
24 And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

   The Greek word for "lunatick" is "seleniazomai," literally meaning "moonstruck." Even the English word "lunatic," as one affected with lunacy, carries the same emphasis. According to Funk & Wagnall's Dictionary; "lunacy is an intermittent form of insanity: formerly supposed to depend on the changes of the Moon."³² This notion portrays the activities of the serpent's seed signified in the lunar cycle extending perhaps beyond mere superstition, and the purely symbolic. A specific example of this in Jesus' ministry is found in Matthew 17.

Matthew 17:14-21
14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

   Here again we find "seleniazomai" referring to the lunatic, in verse 15, whom Jesus cured by rebuking the devil (daimonion) in verse 18. By rebuking the spiritual cause of this malady, the positive effects in the physical realm were witnessed "that very same hour," which is old English for immediately. The graphic below is an illustration of the Greek Goddess "Selene" the root word of seleniazomai, or one could say "struck by the Moon-goddess."

The Moon Goddess Selene depicted in ancient Greek Pottery.

   There are many other instances in God's Word, where disease, and sickness are mentioned in the same breath as evil spirits [Matt. 9:32-33, 10:1, 12:22, Luke 7:21-22, 8:2-3, 9:1-2] are a few examples. It is interesting that in Matt. 9:34, and 12:24, the Scribes and Pharisees are the ones who accused Jesus of casting out devils by Beelzebub, the Prince of devils. Part of Jesus' response to them included a teaching [Matt. 12:30-37] on the "unforgivable sin" of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is confessing as Lord, anything but the true God. As he teaches them about corrupt fruit from a corrupt tree, he calls them "generation of vipers" in verse 34, an obvious reference to the serpent's seed. It would seem that these religious leaders in the Hebrew culture of the day, did not appreciate Jesus undoing the fruit of their evil works. Their antagonism against the Son of God only flushed them out from behind the cloke of their religious garb into the light of the day. Thus, we have the testimony of the Scripture along with the heavens regarding this important aspect of lunar symbolism, that still holds true today. We as believers walking in the wisdom of our gift of the holy spirit and the power of its manifestations, nine in number [I Cor. 12:7-11], we reside under God's hand of protection and blessing, where no darkness has access. Even as God protected the Gentile Magi from the workings of King Herod, the serpent's seed, so He will always keep His children safe from evil according to our believing.

The Divine Calendar of Israel's Feasts and Harvests

   Jesus Christ is the Master Key not only of God's Word written in the Heavens and in Scripture, but also in the fabric of the Creator's septenary structure of space-time, as seen in the Hebrew calendar. We've seen how the fifty-year cycle of the Hebrew Jubilee reconciled (7 x 7+1=50) the lunation cycle and the solar year by use of the golden section [phi =1/1.618], 1 Jubilee cycle of 50 solar years containing 618 lunations. In this light we should observe how mythology can at times conceal lost truth. With the illustration of the Moon goddess Selene above, the note states that she was the daughter of the Titan Hyperion, who was the Father of the Greek Sun-God Helios. What is interesting here is that she had 50 Sons by her husband, the Peleponessian King Endymion. This may not seem like much on the surface, but is it a coincidence that the offspring of the Moon-goddess, the sister of the Sun-God Helios, is numbered at 50 males? Does this not imply an affinity between the Solar and Lunar cycles according to a factor of 50? Of course, since this is only implied symbolically, even as the is implied in the growth of the human body, it will be glossed over by most, but once we have the template of truth as a blueprint, it becomes easier to notice the original truths shining through the veneers of ancient myth. In this way ancient mythology may actually be a carrier of concealed truths that perhaps are not accessible from too many other fields of study. This structure of the O.T. Hebrew Calendar contained three sacred feasts, all of which commemorated the celebration of a note-worthy harvest.phi ratio

   The first harvest was celebrated in Nisan during the Feast of Unleavened Bread when the Hebrews brought a sheaf of barley for the wave offering of the first-fruits of the barley harvest. This was the first day the Judeans began counting toward Pentecost. The second harvest celebration was the wheat harvest at the Feast of Harvest, Pentecost fifty days hence.

   The third harvest celebration was designated as the Feast of Tabernacles in the middle of the seventh month. This final harvest, including the harvest of grapes, was at the end of the agricultural year, before winter. Not only did these three major feasts celebrate the three times of harvest, they also celebrated three great events in the history of Israel. The first, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, celebrated the Exodus of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. The second, Pentecost was traditionally believed by Hebrews to mark the time when God first revealed the Law to Israel at Mount Sinai. The third feast, the Feast of Tabernacles was a seven-day feast commemorating God's watchful care over Israel as they wandered in the wilderness forty years.³⁴ [Levi. 23]

   This period of Israel's wandering in the wilderness showed not only God's care for His chosen people during that time, but also God's righteous judgment on Israel for their stiff-necked defiance. Each of these feasts also depicts a future event in Bible prophecy related to how these feasts are fulfilled in the ministry of Christ as Prophet, Priest and King. The feast of Unleavened Bread shows the resurrection of Christ as the first-fruits from the dead [I Cor. 15:20-23]. The wheat harvest of the Feast of Pentecost illustrates the giving of the gift of holy spirit on the Day of Pentecost, when the apostles first spoke in tongues. The Feast of Tabernacles shows the resurrection of the just and unjust, as the harvest at the end of he world.³⁵

   As the harvesting of barley, wheat and grapes is central to the sacred feasts of the Hebrew calendar, we also find the influence of agricultural concerns on earlier timekeeping practices. As early as 7,000 BC, evidence of this was found at Catal Huyuk in Turkey. A unique ancient calendar mural based on a honeycomb structure, that seemingly ties the life cycle of bees to the growth period of barley, was found at a prehistoric shrine in central Turkey. The base 60 pattern is also evident in this calendar because the time it takes barley to flower is about 60 days, plus there are a total of 72 "cells" pictured in this calendar mural, with some cells having symbols that look like flowers and others bees. According to the pattern distinguished by Dr. Mary Matossian from the University of Maryland, who interpreted the material of the primary excavator of Catal Huyuk, James Mellart, "At the of Catal Huyuk, the swarming of bees occurs 48 days after the vernal in early May, and this seems to be a significant number in the mural's pattern counting from the first filled cell, the compartment with the first bee turns out to be number 48 (bottom to top) or 49 (top to bottom). Based on the behavior of bees, the first filled cell on the left was assigned the date of the vernalequinoxLatitude equinox."³⁶

   Despite some supposition involved in the material above, not only is the base 60 numerical system inherent here, at this very early time in antiquity, but it seems divided according to a factor of 12 (48, 60 & 72). Additionally, the prominence of the vernal equinox, a primary element of many early astronomical calendars is evident. Thirdly, as with other early calendars, the basis of time-keeping was the seasons combined with the harvest of certain crops, and other indicators based on the Natural Order.

   E.C. Krupp summarizes by saying: "this neolithic shrine is another example where the cyclical and ordered passage of time is incorporated into the environment of sacred space."³⁷

   Returning now to the Hebrew Feast of Pentecost, we find it has spiritual implications for us as members of the Church of Grace, because we can partake in the spiritual fullness of the new birth and its nine manifestations, [I Cor. 12:7-11]. It also symbolizes the First and Second Coming of the promised seed. It was by means of the pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, that the Heavenly Father led and protected the Israelites through the wilderness wandering years. These pillars rested over the Ark of the Covenant, symbolic of the personal presence of God.
Wierwille continues with his brilliant exposition of the meaning of the Hebrew harvests with the following; The seven weeks of counting tied together Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread with Pentecost. At the time of the first Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread the children of Israel left the bondage of Egypt. The children of Israel thought of the conclusion of that exodus as the giving of the Law at Sinai, an event which Pentecost came to be associated. The last Passover Jesus Christ represented our exodus from death and the bondage of the law. Christ's redeeming work made possible the great Pentecost when the gift of holy spirit was given to begin another administration, the Administration of Grace, when the law was fulfilled and made of no further effect. Jesus Christ was resurrected at the first harvest during the Feast of Unleavened Bread being the first-fruits from the dead. At Pentecost that same year, Christianity began, in which believers are a harvest, having the first-fruits of the spirit [Rom. 8:23]. We are a kind of first-fruits of God's creation [Js. 1:18]. We in this age of Grace have the first-fruits of the spirit, and we will meet Christ in the air when he returns to finally gather us together. The final, complete harvest will be at the return of Christ when all are resurrected. God's Word describes this as the harvest at the end of the world.³⁸ [Matt. 13:38-39] [emphasis mine]

   As we have just seen, the first Exodus was the time of the first Passover, and Feast of Unleavened Bread. The last Passover Jesus Christ embodies our exodus from death and the bondage of the law. As the first-fruits from the dead, and the crown of God's spiritual harvest, Jesus was resurrected at the first harvest during the feast of Unleavened Bread. On the very day of the offering of the first-fruits according to Leviticus 23:10-11, Jesus Christ furnished himself as the first-fruits from the dead, as the first in a long line of believers who will conquer death. Leviticus also tells us this was the first day the Hebrews began counting towards Pentecost, fifty days hence. This perfect coordination of the cycle of celestial bodies with God's Word leaves us with an undeniable witness of God's Hand behind these events, not to mention His perfect foreknowledge. The sooner the followers of both Christianity and Judaism recognize that Christ fulfilled every aspect of the Passover and the Old Testament Law, the sooner they can truly prepare for his immanent return.

   The above references from V.P. Wierwille show with great beauty and precision how Jesus Christ fulfilled every "jot and tittle" of the Old Testament Law. We, as the believers in today's Age of Grace, can share fully in the riches that our heavenly Father has stored up for us in the body of Christ. Jesus Christ fulfilled the law, as seen in the Hebrew calendar according to the Creator's perfect table, set in the heavens and the seasons of the earth. Therefore, those of us with eyes to see and ears to hear, should not miss the importance of the exact coordination between the cycles of the heavenly bodies and the harvest dates of this calendar. One aspect in the celestial relationship to these feasts is seen clearly in connection with the Book of Ruth. This little book of the Bible contains great truths for our understanding. Ruth was a Gentile woman, a Moabitess, who was included in the Royal genealogy of King David, by God's Grace. Ruth 2:11-12 records Boaz' high opinion of Ruth and her reward, for how she came to trust under the wings of the God of Israel. She came to Bethlehem with Naomi, at the start of the Barley harvest [Ruth 1:22 to 2:22], and gleaned in the fields of Boaz till the end of the Barley and Wheat harvests, [Ruth 2:23]. After this she follows Naomi's direction to go to Boaz to activate the right in the eastern custom known as the kinsman redeemer. Since Boaz was part of Naomi's family, and Ruth and Naomi's husbands were dead, it was Boaz' right to take Ruth in marriage, if a closer kinsman didn't activate this right ahead of him. Ruth 3:9 records how Ruth presented herself to Boaz and how he spread his skirt, or cloak over her, as a figurative sign of his acceptance and protection of her in their impending marriage. What is interesting celestially is Virgo's post in the skies, during this time. We find astronomers as early as Caesius, associating Virgo with Ruth gleaning in the fields of Boaz.³⁹ Annually we find Virgo's position mirroring the harvest seasons as follows. Virgo arises in the East during the Barley harvest and Wave Offering, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Space-Time

Virgo at Sunset on September 11th 3 BC, marking Christ's Birth.

   Virgo is at her zenith, or the highest point in the sky during the early evening at the start of the Wheat harvest, during the Feast of Pentecost. Finally, Virgo is setting in the early evening Western skies of the latter harvest, during the Feast of Tabernacles. This is exactly how we find Virgo on the eve of September 11th, in 3 BC!⁴⁰ Recall that this time of year was when the Sun was clothing Virgo, giving us a beautiful link to Boaz spreading his cloak over Ruth, as a figurative sign of his acceptance and protection of her. Even as the Sun of Righteousness and the light of the world, also viewed as the Bridegroom [Ps. 19:5], was clothing his Bride-Israel, a figure of the marriage supper of the Lamb, so this was foreshadowed in Boaz redeeming his kinswoman Ruth! This Marriage Supper of the Lamb will occur during the Feast of Tabernacles, while the latter harvest relates to the 14th day of this seventh month of Tishri.

   Also, when the Gentile Ruth came to Bethlehem, the birthplace of both David and Jesus and was allowed by God's Grace, to share in the Lord's royal genealogy, she was a forerunner of the Gentile Magi who came to Bethlehem as the first Gentiles to recognize the promised seed. Remember that it was his star-Jupiter in Virgo that led the Magi to Bethlehem, following their meeting with Herod.

   This information gives us a panoramic view of the Biblical harvest feasts in light of the celestial events surrounding the birth of Christ. We can see that these harvest feasts were originally addressed to Israel in the Old Testament, but as V.P. Wierwille explained, there are significant applications of these feasts to the Church of Grace. As we recognize the Red Thread, Jesus Christ and his fulfillment of the Scriptures, both written in the heavens and in God's Word, our understanding of the majesty of God's communication to man, is enlightened in the supernatural heights God has called us to.

   Tishri 1 on the Hebrew calendar was also the seventh New Moon, the beginning of the seventh or sabbatical month. According to the reckoning of Israel's calendar, each month began at the time of the New Moon. Ps. 104:19 says, "He appointed the moon for seasons." The words translated "month" means "moon" or "New Moon," showing a relationship between the month and the moon or the period of lunation." Additionally, the Passover was always at the full moon, since the first month always began with a New Moon, by the eighteenth of Nisan (the time of the Passover in 28 AD, the year Jesus was crucified & resurrected), the Moon would be between full and three-quarters full.⁴¹

   From this example of the celestial relationship of the Sun and Moon inherent in the Hebrew calendar, we can see how Christ is the centerpiece of Creation, fulfilling every aspect of the Old Testament Law. He also embodies every aspect of the Hebrew Calendar and the numerical elemental to these noted celestial cycles. These cycles are fundamental to the pattern unfolding God's sacred order of space-time, the seasons and cycles of life. In the larger context, these numerical patterns mediate between the physical and spiritual worlds and are encapsulated in the great timepiece ruling the firmament, the precession of the equinoxes. We have taken a detailed look at the Solar and Lunar cycles, now lets consider the cycle of the sidereal year, related to the stars.Symmetry

The Sidereal Year 

  We have seen how the coordination of the luni-solar cycles is a key to unlocking the secrets of some ancient timekeepers. This represented two thirds of the triple celestial standard we have investigated in this study from Gen. 1:14-16. The third aspect is the sidereal year. The term "sidereal" means: "pertaining to the stars," derived from the genitive form of the Latin "sidus." The "sidereal day" thus is the period it takes the Earth to rotate on its axis once in relation to a fixed star, equivalent to 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds. Hence a "sidereal year" would be the period of the Sun's transit over the Meridian of the same fixed star on the ecliptic, consisting of 365.256 days. Two of the central elements in the harmonizing of the luni-solar and star cycles are found in the phi ratio, as it is completed in the 50-year cycle. We have also seen evidence that the Biblical Patriarchs, like Noah recognized the Sirius cycle, which is covered in our website article on Noah's Calendar. The staying power of this 50-year cycle, first seen astronomically in the path of the Sirius "B" cycle around Sirius "A," also endured in the sacred 50-year Hebrew Jubilee period. The Dogon of West Sudan, along with the ancient Egyptians, made use of this Sothic Calendar based on the star Sirius of Canis Major, the brightest star in the heavens, as the basis of their star religions. Other advocates of this calendar include the Babylonians and the Sumerians before them. Ishtar, the name of a Babylonian goddess, primary in their pantheon was shared by both Venus and Sirius, providing a symbolic link between the bright and Morning Star, Venus and Sirius the Dog-star, in ancient Babylon. What follows is an important part of our thesis that establishes Sirius' dual symbolism, in connection with the Morning Star. A well established standard of astronomical navigation is finding the rising point of Sirius once Orion has risen at least 20 degrees, by extending the so-called Navigator's Line of the 3 stars of Orion's Belt to the horizon.
   Through all ancient Astronomy, and in the cosmology of ancient Egypt, one of the four-corners or pillars of heaven was the vernal equinox. This prominent recognition of the vernal equinox in ancient is another indicator of the consensus of the recognition of the precession of the equinoxes early in antiquity. This key linkage in ancient Egypt, between Orion's 3 belt-stars & Sirius, not only ties the Sothic Calendar to the vernal point as a precessional marker, but it also suggests a similarity with the Biblical symbol of the breastplate of Israel's High Priest. The link between the Sothic and precessional cycles is an important point we will discuss presently, but first let's consider the symbolism of the high priest's breastplate in light of Sirius' dual symbolism.
   This breastplate ordered its jewels as Orion's 3 belt stars, in three columns of four rows. The record in Ezekiel 28:12-15 shows these precious stones associated with Lucifer in his first estate, on the mountain of God's presence, symbolizing the angels of the First Heavens & Earth, even as the High Priest wore his breastplate in service to God's presence in Israel's Tabernacle. In the celestial order and angelic dominions of this First Heavens and Earth, Lucifer was second only to the Creator, as the Angel of Light. As the head of the three primary archangels including, Michael the Warrior archangel and Gabriel the Messenger and Scribe archangel, each of these commanded one third of the angels of heaven. Job 38 records an indirect reference to Orion in light of this imagery of the Dog-star Sirius, that's worthy of our attention. We should realize Sirius' dual symbolism here, first as the angel of light, the original light of the world fallen from grace. This motif can also seen in the fact that Sirius remains the brightest star in the heavens even today, yet with negative symbolism. Some of this is recorded in the Iliad, in words by Homer: "s the star which rises in late summer, called among men Orion's Dog [Sirius]; bright it shines forth, yet it is a baleful sign, for it brings to suffering mortals much fiery heat." Homer continues: "Whose burning breath taints the red air with fevers, plagues and death."⁴³ The Revised English Bible for Job 38:15 reads as follows:Astronomy

Job 38:15 When the light of the Dog-star is dimmed and the stars of the Navigator's Line go out one by one?"

The Stars of the "Navigator's Line" in Orion's Belt with Sirius to the left.

"Stars of the Navigator's Line go out one by one"- These stars of the Navigator's line refer to the three belt stars of Orion, that "go out, or are extinguished, one by one" as the sunrise of dawn washes out their nocturnal brilliance. This imagery fits a symbolic portrait of one third of the stars of the heavenly host, under Lucifer's domain, taken down with him when he fell from grace, resulting from his rebellion in the First Heavens and Earth. Their light was snuffed out due to their revolt and they are broken in the light of the rising daystar, the ascendant Jesus Christ. When we read this rendering of Job 38, in light of the Heliacal Rising of Sirius, the truth of this text lying hidden here for centuries finally comes to the surface. What better place could this occur than in the oldest book of the Bible, which contains more overt astronomical references than in any other book in the Canon of Scripture. This is most appropriate since this is the only book addressed to the Age of the Biblical Patriarchs, whose gospel was the stars! This also shows the high degree of sophistication in the Astronomy of the Biblical Patriarchs at a very early time in the antediluvian age. This is a witness to the ancient knowledge of the Sothic cycle in Job, based on the cycles of the dog-star Sirius, related to Orion's belt.

  The Hebrew word: "rosh" [H7218] rendered "Dog-star" in Job 38: 13 & 15 of The Revised English Bible, is the root word for [H7222-roshah], also used in Zech. 4:7 rendered "headstone," or "Chief corner-stone" [Ps. 118:22, Eph. 2:20, 5:23]. This account of "Sirius" as the "prince of the Heavenly host" was also referenced in Persia's sacred books as "Tistar," the "Chieftain of the East ," as it caught the first rays of the dawn before sunrise of a new day.⁴³ This "new day" was significant not only for the light of that 24-hour period, but also because for "3000 years, the Heliacal Rising of Sirius marked the opening of the New Year in old Egypt."⁴⁴ From the reference above to the Heliacal Rising of Sirius in Job 38:15, we can see the New Years celebrations in ancient Egypt foreshadowing a transition of spiritual power from the archaic Morning Star to the risen Daystar, Jesus Christ.

A subscription to Ps. 21 has the meaning of "the hind of the morning" The expression is a figure of speech common in the east, and frequently met with in Arabian poetry. It is used of the Day-Dawn, in which the beams of light from the rising sun are seen shooting up (like horns) above the horizon before the sun actually appears. It is used in Ps. 21 of the rays of the Messiah's coming glory, and tells of the dawn of his approaching coronation which is the one great subject of Ps. 21. This same Day-Dawn forms the theme of David's "last words". [Ps. 72:5-8, emphasis mine]
In these last words expounding on the Covenant of Day and Night, of the sweet psalmist of Israel in II Samuel 23, the word "riseth" is zarach, as in [Isa. 60:2].⁴⁶

2 Samuel 23:1-4 Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up (H6965 kuwm) on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, [2] The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. [3] The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth (H4910 maschal) over men must be just, ruling (H4910 maschal) in the fear of God. [4] And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, (zarach) even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. [Jer. 33:25-26]

   Here we see David's prophecy utilizing the light of Sunrise as a figure of the ideal ruler in the heavens and earth, while validating his own regal line, culminating in the promised seed of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, whose triple coronation is recorded in Gen. 49. Thus we can see the Biblical and astronomical imagery of Sirius, first as the angel of light in his former glory, but later succumbing to the effulgent light of the Sun. This is the true significance of the helical rising of Sirius that was of such central importance to Egyptian culture, mythology & timekeeping. This dual symbolism of the star Sirius is key in understanding its prominent place in ancient Astronomy. The Dog-star, Sirius was the primary regulator of the Egyptian calendar. The annual Heliacal Rising of Sirius, after a period of invisibility for 70 days, appeared for a short time in the dawn's early light before sunrise, marking the New Year in Egypt. For a period, it also coincided with the annual flooding of the Nile. This marking of the inundation season in Egypt was also associated with the cult of Isis, who followed Osiris-Orion, the idol personifying the fertility of the land nourished from the life-waters of the Nile. Thus we can begin to see how Osirian myth was ultimately a corrupted form of the celestial record of the promised seed, as it was written in the heavens. An important aspect of God's sovereign authority is witnessed in the temporally ordered Creation via the Stellar, Solar and Lunar cycles. The recognition of His royal heir and offspring was preserved in the celestial narrative, whose regulating cycles and coordinated calendars provided an aspect of this mandate of power from heaven. Thus, it is the story of the promised seed of Israel, foretold in the celestial showcase of the ages, that provides the basis of many world myths. The cult of Osiris had a powerful influence on the social order of Egypt, since Osiris was associated with Pharaoh, along with the cycles of the Sun, Moon and Orion's stars. As mentioned earlier, the Egyptian mythological complex involving Sirius-Orion also included a relationship between the Sothic Calendar and the precessional cycle. We find evidence of this in remarks from Rundle Clark's analysis of the Dendera zodiac:

"Markings on it show the spring for the epoch of the temple's last dedication in 700 BC, as well as orientations toward older vernal points. The original "east axis" of Dendera's Zodiac, which is inscribed in hieroglyphics for "east," intersects at the Orion, lying between Gemini and Taurus. If this orientation reflects the time the temple [of Hathor] was founded, then it gives the epoch of 6640-4480 BCConstellationequinox."⁴⁷ (emphasis mine)

   As many other historians have pointed out, this date could also refer to the age of the Dendera Zodiac, not necessarily the temple that housed it, albeit there exists ample evidence from Herbert Lockyer, that the newer Temples of Hathor and others, were built on the basis of older temples, with their axis aligned toward transitioning stars, or Solstice sunrises in the age they were built. This evidence, confirmed later by Gerald Hawkins, who analyzed Stonehenge, not only puts the basis of Egyptian culture in what could be called the Age of Orion, but it also may correlate the vernal point between the Sothic and precessional cycles, giving a key alignment point between the Sothic and Civil calendars and the tropical and sidereal zodiacs.

The Dendera zodiac

   The Egyptian Sothic year was a fixed sidereal year in relation to the 365.25-day shifting civil year, which lost a day every four years. Thus, it took 1,461 civil years to return in sync with the Sothic year. The realignment of these two calendars also fell on New Years Day! Historians and archaeo-astronomers have always related the unification of Egypt to New Years Day, on three sequential dates of this Sothic Calendar, 1,461 years, or three Sirius cycles apart. Traditionally, they have recognized 2782 BC as the date of the unification of Egypt by Menes/Narmer, but due to numerous factors, many experts are advocating the previous Sothic date of 4242 BC, a more likely candidate for the foundations of ancient Egypt. Historian Sir Wlliam Drummond, in his work on the of Esneh and Dendera states: "It seems generally agreed that they represent the heavens at the commencement of a Sothic period (1460 years), which might be 2782 BC."⁴⁸ Rolleston's notable comments on this are as follows:zodiac

"These temples are now known to have been built in the Christian era; but the Zodiacs, like our own may have been of a much earlier date. The Sothic period in question would commence therefore, during the antediluvian studies of attributed to the family of SethAstronomy."⁴⁹

   This notion is born out by Rundle Clark above, who puts the founding of the Sothic Calendar another cycle earlier, at least as early as 5703 BC, during the "Age of Orion," between the Ages of Gemini and Taurus. This information puts a new and entirely different emphasis on the so-called "Orion Correlation Theory," by bringing a Biblical context to the star-shaft alignments of the Great Pyramid, that point to Orion's belt and Sirius, among other stars. We will handle this in its entirety under the section of this web-site related to the Great Pyramid.

 It was Professor Richard A. Parker, who deciphered a 1st Dynasty Egyptian Ivory tablet containing the words: "Sirius the opener of the year, the inundation," that was dated at least to 3100 BC. What is truly interesting about this artifact is that Sirius is shown as a Cow with a bright star between its horns, even as it is shown in the Dendera zodiac around 100 BC, 3000 years later!⁵⁰ This shows the use of the Sothic Calendar coordinated with the lunar cycle, back to at least the 3rd Millennium BC! Since Sirius is one of only two stars specifically marked on the Dendera zodiac, the other being Spica, its centrality in the Egyptian planisphere goes without question. We have already entered Spica's notability in relation to its marking Jesus as the branch; Al-Zemach, but we should realize that the Heliacal Rising of Spica also marked the autumnal equinox in ancient Egypt. Thus between Sirius & Spica, the year was not only divided at the equinoxes, but we may also have the two stars that correlate the sidereal and tropical zodiacs, providing a point of alignment between them.

   The fact that the use of the Sothic Calendar is found prior to 2782 BC, provides strong support that it was also in use at least by 4242 BC, one earlier Sothic cycle or 1,461 years prior. This is not only supported by the renown German astronomer, Ludwig Borchardt, but E.C. Krupp additionally puts the inception of the 365-day Solar year inherent in the Sirius cycle, some time in the early Third Millennium BC. The solar year is subdivided into 12 months of 30 days, split into its related 36 decans, with the five extra days added at year's end. As E.C. Krupp tells us:

   "This 365.25-day solar, civil year was found to be intercalated in Egypt with the lunar year, (according to the phi ratio, consummated in the 50-year standard) harmonizing the first day of the lunar year with the New Years Day of the solar year."⁵¹ [parenthesis mine]

   In the coordination of the Solar, Lunar and Sothic Calendar, via the phi ratio, not only do we find a symbol of God, the Creator-Father of Light, underwriting His Creation via this "source of life-principle," but this also shows a linkage between the precessional and Sothic cycles. As the Creator, He enlivened all life forms, as the Prime Mover, and Giver of the vital life-growth element seen in all four kingdoms of life: plant, animal (and insect), human and spirit kingdoms. As the phi ratio applies to these four kingdoms of life, it operates according the Fibonacci Series, approximating higher degrees of accuracy, unto the Phi standard, witnessed in the successive growth stages of life. This is the reason for the ubiquity of the Fibonacci Series in so many terrestrial life forms. We will investigate this in greater detail in our section dedicated to this topic, but for our purposes here we can see the corrupt application of this principle in Egypt, once again in the cult of Osiris. He was god of Pharaoh's vitality and kingship, personifying the fertility of the land based on the annual flooding of the Nile that gave life to all Egypt. He was also the lord of the social order through his association with the cycles of the Sun, Orion and the Moon. Historians of Archaeo-Astronomy have always puzzled over why the ancient Egyptians seemed to ignore the ¼-day that caused the civil year to slip back through the seasons of the fixed Sothic Calendar, beginning a day sooner every four years. It seems that the Astronomer-Priests of ancient Egypt had their own well-founded reasons in their designed decision to discern all three calendars concurrently. The ancient Babylonians recognized the difference between the fixed sidereal year and the return of the equinoxes of the tropical year, recording this difference by adopting differing "zero points" of the vernal equinox at various times. Even so, one way the Egyptians may have coordinated their perception of the precessional cycle with the Sothic Calendar could have been by allowing the civil calendar to run its course. The role of Sirius as the stellar kingpin of Egyptian is also based on the fact that during the 3000 years of Egyptian history documented above, Sirius rose every fourth year on July 20th of the Julian Calendar. As the brightest of the fixed stars, its Heliacal Rising returned periodically to mark New Years Day in Egypt. This is more evidence showing the advanced state of Astronomy in ancient Egypt, singling the one star in all the firmament that was the basis of the 365.25-day year. The sophistication of these ancient astronomers supports, and historically establishes our thesis of a Revelatory Astronomy first practiced by the Biblical Patriarchs like Job as early as 4000 BC. As we will see, the Book of Job contains many more secrets of Biblical Astronomy that have yet to be revealed. We will see some of these revealed in the follow-up article to this section on Noah's Calendar. Only when we allow God's Word to have its rightful say, speaking on its own authority, will we begin to unearth some of these priceless gems.Astronomy

FOOTNOTES:

1 Strong's Concordance. James Strong, note on #H226.
2 The King James Version, ( Cambridge : Cambridge ) 1769. All quotes from the Bible are from the KJV unless otherwise noted
3 The Temple Alfred Edersheim, p. 151.
4 The Star that Astonished the World, Dr. Earnest Martin. p.209.
5 Strong’s Concordance, James Strong note on #H4161.
6 New Bible Dictionary, p. 1157.
7 The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible Zodhiates, noting Hebrew # 7812, p. 1644.
8 A History of Astronomy, by Anton Pannekoek p.31.
9 The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible, Spiros Zodhaites. P. 1648, #8104.
10 Sun, Moon and Earth. Robin Heath, p. 12
11 Symbols of Judaism M.A. Ouaknin p.12.
12 Sun, Moon and Earth. Robin Heath, p.35
13 Echoes of the Ancient Skies, E.C. Krupp p. 176.
14 Sun, Moon and Earth. Robin Heath, p.28
15 The Two Babylons Hislop, p. 59
16 IBID Hislop, p. 18
17 Mysteries of the Mexican Pyramids, Peter Thompkins, p.286.
18 Serpent in the Sky J..A. West, p. 94.
19 Jesus Christ Our Promised Seed Wierwille, p.79.
20 New Bible Dictionary. 2^nd Edition, p. 941.
21 New Bible Dictionary, Tyndale p. 545.
22 The Temple, Edersheim ppg. 218-219.
23 IBID
24 Number in Scripture, E.W. Bullinger, p. 4.
25 Number in Scripture, E.W. Bullinger. p. 205
26 The Secret Language of the Stars and Planets, Cornelius & Devereux. ppg. 18-19.
27 Star Names, their Lore and Meaning, R.H. Allen, p. 208.
28 IBID. fn p. 208.
29 The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics, Jean Doresse, fn. pg. 74.
30 Witness of the Stars E.W. Bullinger. p. 72.
31 The King James Version, ( Cambridge : Cambridge ) 1769.
32 Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary, p. 795.
33 The King James Version, ( Cambridge : Cambridge ) 1769.
34 Jesus Christ our Passover Wierwille, ppg. 407-408.
35 IBID. chart on p. 409
36 Echoes of the Ancient Skies, E.C. Krupp, ppg.302-303
37 IBID
38 Jesus Christ our Passover, V.P. Wierwille, p. 412
39 Star Lore, Myths, Legends and Facts. William Tyler Olcott, p. 385.
40 Biblical Astronomy Newsletter, Oct. 2004, Bob Wadsworth.
41 Jesus Christ our Promised Seed, V.P. Weirwille, fn p.82.
42 Jesus Christ our Passover, Wierwille, p. 315 footnote.
43 Witness of the Stars, E.W. Bullinger p.143
44 Hamlet’s Mill, Santillanna & Von Dechend. p.286.
45 Star Names, Their Lore and Meaning R.H.Allen p. 310.
46 The Companion Bible. E.W. Bullinger, Appendix 65. I.
47 The Sacred Tradition in Ancient Egypt, Rosemary Clark p. 139.
48 Esneh and Denderah, Sir William Drummond
49 Mazzaroth or the Constellations; On the Antiquity of the Signs, Francis Rolleston
50 Echoes of the Ancient Skies, E.C. Krupp. ppg. 172-173.
51 IBID. p.174.

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