This again explains why "Fish symbology" which runs so characteristically through the entire Gospel story (miracles of the fishes, call of fishermen, fishers of men, etc.) and why Christ's disciples were largely fishermen. The Sun had entered the Constellation of Pisces and it was time for a new "interpretation" of God and His "Karst" and we have it in the Christ of Christianity and its emphasis upon Christ's followers being fishermen and "fishers of men". It is written that the Christ performed the miracles with fishes and sent his apostles out after his death under the leadership of St. Peter with the injunction to be fishers of men. It is for this reason that the mitre (hat) which the Pope wears is the mouth of the fish.

Now, according to Astronomy mankind is currently transiting into the sign of Aquarius, the sign of the water-carrier, the sign of universality, for water is a universal symbol. It is recorded for us in the New Testament that prior to his death Christ sent his disciples out to find the "water-bearer" who led them to an upper room where the communion service was instituted. All this was in the text is the recognition by the Christ (personified as the Sun) of the coming New Age which would succeed his dispensation and into which we are at this time entering. Leonardo da Vinci's great picture of the communion in the upper room is the great symbol of the Aquarian age, for we shall sit down together under the loving direction of Christ (the vehicle and agent (Logos) of Revelation of God to mankind) when brotherhood will be established and men will be banded together in the bonds of divine relationship. The old barriers between man and man and nation and nation will, during the next 2,160 years slowly disappear. Ironically this picture was known by the Ancients to have astrological connections as it represented again the Sun and the Zodiac "personified". Take a close look at the picture and how it has been divided by modern scholarship who is aware of its Astronomical Symbolism: 4 groupings of 3 disciples corresponding to the 2 Equinoxes and 2 Solstices, each containing groups of 3 reflective of the months in each time period separating the Equinoxes and Solstices.

Answer for yourself: Is this another coincidence?

These "Spiritual concepts" have been with mankind since the beginning of time and this explains why in the worlds' religions we find unbelievable "common themes" and "overlap" of these "Celestial beliefs" at the heart of these various religions. And we should since mankind all sees the same things in the Sky and God's Heaven.

Understanding the above then we should know that regardless of attempts to make Mithraism the plagiarist of Christianity, the fact will remain that Mithraism originated long before Christianity and was well established decades before Christianity had any significant influence. If Christian apologists will not yield to the well-attested assertion that Christianity "borrowed" from Mithraism in specific, they simply cannot deny that both copied from Paganism in general, from one or more of the numerous religions, cults and mysteries of the pre-Christian world. Hence, the effect is the same: Christianity took its "godman" and religious beliefs and religious tenets attached to him from prior Nations and their understanding of the Precession of the Equinoxes as it was later "personified" and "allegorized"!

Answer for yourself: So why again is this important to know? The Ancients understood that the Creator was responsible for His Heavens and the orbs within them and was equally responsible for their movements. In these movements of the orbs of Heaven the Ancients saw and heard a message from God and interpreted what they saw "allegorically" and understood this as the very voice of God to them as He wrote upon the blackboard of the Sky principles and concepts that had an undercurrent or "Spiritual Nature" for mankind. These we already saw are called the "Doctrine of Christ". As man witnessed and pondered these movements in the Heavens and the Zodiac over time they developed myths and legends of "personified characters", or sungods, that captured these deeper Spiritual Truths that they came to understand from the movement of God's Sun and stars in the Heavens. In time they came to make parallels to these same Eternal and Divine Concepts in the Heavens with the same concepts that operated in Mother Nature around them as well. God was speaking from Heaven the same message that Ancient mankind came to hear around them in Mother Nature: So Above, So Below! It is for us to understand this "message" today if we ever hope to separate out the truth of God's message to mankind from the blurred echoes shouting from man's competing and conflicting religions today.

I guess it is time for a quick review.

Answer for yourself: And what is God teaching from Heaven again as seen from the observation of the path of the Sun through the Zodiac along with the ordered "cycles" and "patterns" in Heaven which were later handed down through the myths and legends of the "sungods" like Osiris, Horus, Dionysus, Mithra, Attis, and yes, even Jesus?

From Capricorn we learn that God is teaching through the Winter Solstice that all mankind the necessity of a "2nd birth" or a "new birth", a 2nd birth that is symbolized by immersion in water accompanied with repentance which is the fruit of the eternal tension between "light" and "darkness" and their fight for mastery over all existence. As the Sun rises from the greatest darkness at the Winter Solstice so is the Soul of man to rise daily in Spiritual light throughout our lives whereby we reflect the light of God and His image which is symbolized by the moon which has no light in it but that which is reflected from the light of God (the symbolic Sun). From Aquarius we realize that this "new birth" is realized through the mikvah where as the Rabbis teach man "receives the Soul that comes down from Heaven". This is symbolic language for the "Descent of the Soul" into matter where the Divine becomes flesh and tabernacles within mankind as the zenith of His creation. Being "born again" we are to "increase" and out birth nature "decrease" which is the message of Aquarius and this is effected through the doctrine of repentance unto good works. We learn that for this to happen in our lives our "Inner Man" must be nourished as is our "natural man" and this requires we eat the "Bread of God", the "Word that comes down from Heaven". We learn from Pisces that within mankind are "two natures" as we find in the "two fish" and making an intersection in the Sky we likewise come to see that within us these "natures" merge and dominance is dependant upon which we feed. Thus the symbolism in the "feeding miracles" of the Christ where all mankind, both Jews and non-Jews, are to be fed this "Bread" from Heaven symbolized in the miracle. Until we feed ourselves we will not be able to "feed others" and realize our potential and goal to be "fishers of men" whereby we share freely with them the real Message of God. From Aries we learn as the Sun moves higher and higher toward God that we all are to be the "Lamb of God" and become "living sacrifices". This, exampled at the Spring Equinox, is realized at the Vernal Equinox whereby we celebrate the "new birth" and let our lives be examples of the harmony manifested in Aries whereby through our good works and fruitfulness we manifest to all humanity that we have realized within us "life from the dead" for truly this is the harvest of God. It is through our good works in obedience to the Laws and Commandments of God which frame our Covenant with God that we achieve the purpose of being a living sacrifice; namely, atonement for our sins which is the purpose of realizing in our lives that we become the "lamb of God". Judaism, unlike Christianity, teaches that man can make himself acceptable to God through repentance and good works thereby effecting atonement for his sins. Unlike today it originally was at this time of the year, both physically and spiritually, that atonement was once connected with the "Passover" at the Vernal Equinox. Through the later efforts of Ezekiel this theme of "atonement" would be separated from the historical event of thekilling of the Egyptian Messiah who was killed and hung on a tree at the eve of the Passover in Egypt around 1,350 B.C.E. (the Pharaoh Tutankamun, the son of Moses) to the fall of the year as we find today at Yom Kippur but as I said that was not always the case.

It is my personal belief as an "ex-Pastor" of the Christian faith that it is the responsibility of all enlightened Children of God to reach all mankind with the true message of God as we become fishers of men, live a life of order that reflects "Ma'at" or the Divine Order in Heaven and the Cosmos as well as Mother Nature. This Divine Order is achieved through obedience to the Laws of God as taught in Egypt in the "42 Negative Confessions" and which later the Jewish religion calls their Torah. Within these laws we find the Covenant of God with the non-Jew and the 66 Laws of Noah which frame his Covenant with God.

This is the message that God has consistently spoken to mankind from Heaven since the creation of the Universe. Man is to reflect this Cosmic Order of Heaven by following and implementing the same Divine Patterns and Cycles that operate "Above" and bring them into being "Below". So Above, So Below!

Answer for yourself: And how is this done? It is accomplished by man submitting to and emulating these Divine Patters "Above" and manifesting them "Below" in this world through submission to God's Laws and Commadments, living out these Laws through the doing of good works and deeds, whereby our actions literally bring Heaven down to Earth: So Above, So Below!

Now let us go on discussing the associated Doctrine of Christ concerning "sacrifice". As mentioned above central to the message of God in both Aries and Taurus is the theme of "sacrifice". Let me explain and in doing so we need a little more Astronomy.

Answer for yourself: Where did this sacrifice originally take place which was a "pattern" for mankind? Could it have been in Space and in God's Heaven and can we find the very first "crucifixion" taking place in Heaven and not on earth as we have assumed? Now here comes the astronomy.

Viewed from the earth, the universe of stars seemed to the ancients to be attached to the great "celestial sphere" which had the earth as its center. The "celestial equator" is the projection of the earth's equator upon the inside of the sphere. The circle of the ecliptic is the path which the Sun appears to follow against the background of "fixed stars." The intersection of the "celestial equator" and the plane of the "ecliptic" forms a "X" or a "Cross in the Heavens" as projected upon the Celestial Sphere. This "Cross in the Heavens" is a mark in the Heavens which the Sun just so happens to move over twice a day; at the Vernal Equinox and the Autumn Equinox. Of course it is at the Vernal Equinox when the "Earth awakens from the dead of Winter" that is most prominent for the Sun was believed to be "on the Cross" at this time and in awakening the Earth once again from her death at the Winter Solstice the Sun "died on the Cross" as it "poured out His live for mankind" so that might be "saved" and have "life abundantly". Surely this sounds familiar, especially if you are a Christian.

The Zodiac is a belt of Sky, extending 9 degrees above and below the ecliptic, which can be divided into twelve zones of equal size, each characterized by the presence of a particularly prominent constellation. The moon and visible planets all appear to move within the confines of the zodiacal belt. The Zodiac is the band of 12 constellations that lie on the ecliptic. The mythological origins of the zodiac constellations and the glyphs that represent them hark back to the beginnings of human culture. They might have first been grouped together as the constellations through which the Sun and Moon appeared to move. For this reason they were originally called houses or Lunar Mansions. The equinoctial points are two places where the Earth's equator intersects the ecliptic, at an angle of approximately 23.5 degrees. The first sign of the Zodiac is, by definition, the constellation that appears behind the Sun on the March or Vernal equinox. Two thousand years ago this constellation was Aries and it was designated the First House of the Zodiac. Now as you can see in a Planisphere the Equinox falls at the end of Pisces or beginning of Aquarius. This is the reason why the dates of the signs of the Zodiac no longer correspond to constellations of that name. But understand the religious dogmas and doctrines created thousands of years ago from man's scrutiny of the Cosmos corresponding to the Sun and the Zodiac in the Ages of Taurus, Aries, and Pisces are with us today (selah) and are the backbone of major world religions as well today.

Around 128 B.C.E., Hipparchus of Rhodes discovered that the position of the Equinoxes was not constant but honestly that was known as far back at Ancient Egypt. He determined that the Vernal (spring) Equinox had once been in the constellation Taurus but had, by his day, moved ("precessed") almost all the way through the constellation of Aries. At the beginning of the Christian era, the Vernal Equinox moved into Pisces.

Answer for yourself: What should we have realized from this above statement? That in every Age there has been a new revelation and message for God and each Age expressed this new and evolving message from God as a "new religion" of sorts. For example in the Age of Taurus we find the great Egyptian religion which was followed in the Age of Aries with the religion of Judaism and which again was followed in the Age of Pisces by the religion of Christianity.

Answer for yourself: Is this a coincidence?

Each new Age has a new revelation of God or should I say a "new religion". We can only wonder at the new religion that will surface with the Age of Aquarius when it arrives.

Because the earth wobbles as it spins on its axis, the north and south poles of its axis do not always point to the same spots on the celestial sphere. As a consequence, the equinoctial points become displaced with respect to the so-called fixed stars - including the stars forming the twelve zodiacal constellations. When Hipparchus discovered that the Vernal Equinox had been displaced from Taurus into Aries, he or some of his disciples felt that they had detected the labor of a hitherto unknown god (even he knew the Creator was moving the Heavens and it was His doing). Many Greeks felt that each natural phenomenon or physical force was actually the working of a particular god (neteru). For Astrological reasons, this new god was identified with the ancient Persian god Mithra. The mystery religion known as Mithraism thus was born. Mithra was installed as a Time-Lord or chronocrat, the god who would rule over the Age or Aeon of Aries after Taurus. Notice if you will the picture of Mithra moving the Zodiac as seen in the wheel around Mithra above.

By the time Hipparchus and his Stoic colleagues understood that the Vernal Equinox had moved from Taurus into Aries, the Equinox was almost out of Aries as well. Very soon it would move into Pisces, and a new Time-Lord would be needed.

Now what is said next is very, very important.

Just as movement of the equinox out of Taurus had been symbolized as the sacrifice of a bull, so too, the movement out the equinox out of Aries would come to be symbolized by the sacrifice of a lamb. Sacrifice would be a theme shared by both the Age or Taurus and the Age of Aries.

Answer for yourself: What should this teach us? It should teach us that central to the Age of Taurus and the Age of Aries as connected to their "religious doctrines" is the idea of "sacrifice"; in particular "sacrifice for sin" and that is what we find.

Answer for yourself: Did this sacrifice of some mythological or allegorical "godman" which was never real actually bring "atonement" to man for his sins? Of course not so we are missing something here that lays hidden in the motif of "sacrifice for sins".

Answer for yourself: What is "this sacrifice" that makes atonement for sin?

We spoke above and in an earlier article of a "living sacrifice" and we found out that this "Heavenly Idea" was understood to apply not to just one person who was believed to be the "only Christ" but to every man, woman, and child born of flesh in God's Cosmos in which "God's Christ" resides.

Col 1:26-27 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: (KJV)

Gal 4:19 19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, (KJV)

Contrary to the misinterpretation in the Age of Pisces of this "Heavenly Doctrine" where this "Christ" is the possession of only one supposed person we find this religious doctrine accurately understood in both the Age of Taurus and the Age of Aries and expressed accurately by both Egyptian religion and Judaism since the beginning of recorded time as it is applied to ever Child of God. God lives within every man, woman, and child as "the Christ" and this has been the understanding of the "Descent of the Soul" into matter since the beginning of time. It is when we come to Roman Christianity that we lose the truth behind this Heavenly Idea of each person being a "living sacrifice" who is able to procure his own atonement of sin. Judaism has taught this and yet teaches this for the last 3,500 years and Egypt since the beginning of recorded history.

It would be good to go over some basic information regarding the Chronology of the Bible, in the hopes of clarifying this issue.  Here is a simple four point statement describing some of these same issues in Biblical Chronology, showing how to explain the data given in Scripture regarding the dating of historical events:

1.  From the time of the division of the kingdom after the death of Solomon, the official scribes of the southern kingdom of Judah counted the regnal years of their kings from the month Tishri (September - October), while the scribes of the northern kingdom of Israel apparently reckoned the regnal years of their kings from the month Nisan (March - April). Proof that Tishri reckoning was employed in Judah may be found by comparing II Kings 22:3 with 23:23, where the discovery of the law by Hilkiah and the subsequent Passover in Nisan, which must have occurred several months later, are both dated in the 18th year of Josiah. Although no scriptural evidence is available for the time of the beginning of the regnal year in the northern kingdom of Israel, when a Nisan-to-Nisan regnal year is used for Israel together with a Tishri-to-Tishri year for Judah, the perplexing discrepancies disappear and a harmonious chronological pattern results.

2.  The scribes of Israel used the Egyptian nonaccession-year ("postdating") system in reckoning the reigns of their kings from the division of the kingdom down to 798 BC, and the Babylonian accession-year ("antedating") system from that year onward. According to the nonaccession-year system, that portion of a year which followed a king's accession to the throne and which preceded the official New Year (whether Tishri 1 or Nisan 1) was counted as his first official year. But according to the accession-year system, that initial period was called his accession year, and not until after the New Year did his first official year begin. Proof that Israel followed the nonaccession-year system during the 9th century B.C may be found in the fact that Jehu (according to Assyrian records) paid tribute to Shalmanezer III only 12 years after Ahab fought in the Battle of Qarqar, while the scribes of Israel attributed 14 years to the reigns of the two intervening kings, Ahaziah and Joram. On the other hand, the scribes of Judah must have employed the accession-year system for their kings, except during that dark period of their history when the influence of the northern kingdom, through Queen Athaliah, was predominate (848-796 BC); for only by means of this assumption is it possible to harmonize the synchronisms employed by the northern and southern scribes.

3.  When the scribes of one kingdom synchronized the reign of their king with the reign of the neighboring king, they employed their own system of reckoning for both kings instead of employing the foreign system for the foreign king.

4.  Many of the kings of Judah (and also Jehoash of Israel) associated their sons with them on their thrones during the final years of their reigns, thus necessitating the allowance of considerable overlapping or coregencies.⁴⁶

Timeline of Evidences Showing Both a Spring and a Fall Calendar

Before we continue with this study, I feel it is important that we summarize and chart out the facts which demonstrate what type of calendar the Israelites used.  Yes, we know that according to Exodus 12:1-2 they used a spring-to-spring calendar.  And yes, the 1st month of the Hebrew calendar is still the month of Abib, in the spring.  However, the evidence of Scripture, history, and Biblical chronology show conclusively that they also employed a fall-to-fall calendar, in which they often started the count of the years from the 7th month, the month of Tishri.  Please review this and consider each of these points carefully.

Timeline Showing the Scriptural, Historical and Chronological Evidences

for the Use of Both a Spring and Fall Calendar by Israel

Fall Calendar is the Original Creation Calendar

While contemplating the enormous amount of evidence in support of a dual calendar system in Israel, let us consider a statement from another chronologist in regard to the issue of spring verses fall start of the Hebrew calendar.  Godfrey Faussett, author of Sacred Chronology, believed that the year originally started in the fall, and says this about the idea of originally starting the year from the spring:

It is worthy of notice too that even in one sacred institution the old order of the year was of necessity maintained; for if the Sabbatical year had commenced otherwise than in the Autumn, the understood relation between the seed not sown and the harvest not reaped, would have been destroyed. The year of Jubile too was proclaimed by the trumpet in the seventh month. However poetical imagination may point to the spring as the infancy of the World; if by spring is meant the vernal equinox, nature herself seems to repudiate an order of things which cuts off the seed time from the harvest. Even the winter solstice falls too late by many weeks for that actual spring, which is properly indicated by the earliest germs of annual vegetation.⁴⁸                                             

Faussett makes several good points.  For instance, he talks about the natural order of the seasons.  How can we think of dividing the year between seed time and harvest, when the most natural division of the year would be at the time of the harvest?  Yahweh instituted a religious calendar that calculated the years starting in the spring, according to Exodus 12:1-2.  And yet this appears to be a special calendar given for a special purpose―as an object lesson concerning the celebration of the life cycle of man.^‡  Other than this, logic and nature itself seem to mitigate against the idea of ending and starting the year after the time that the seed has already germinated (the spring equinox), for such a system breaks up the agricultural cycle.  The fact that Faussett refers to the "old order of the year," which is also in alignment with what Josephus says when he speaks of this "original order," lends credence to the idea that there is also an agricultural year which naturally starts in the fall.

Through the research of many chronologists, including Faussett, Horn and Thiele, ancient historical testimonies (including Josephus, Philo and the Elephantine Papyri), ancient Jewish Rabbis, and the Scriptures themselves, we can determine conclusively that even as far back as the days of Noah the beginning of the year was in the fall, and was not changed to the spring until the time of Moses—when Yahweh sought to change the focus of his children from the celebration of “death” to the celebration of “life.”^‡ In addition, a fall calendar was used in the days of Solomon, and in the days of Josiah (just before the Babylonian captivity).  And after the captivity it was used by the Elephantine Jews of 5th century BCE Egypt.  It was also used by Ezra and Nehemiah of that same period, as well as the Qumran community two centuries later.  Of course, through the Mishnah and the Talmud we learn that the Rabbis of the 2nd to the 5th century CE also followed a fall-to-fall calendar.  We cannot say that they only used a fall calendar during the time of the existence of the nation of Israel, for there is also evidence (both Scriptural and historical) for the use of a spring calendar during that time.  However, the idea that they only used a spring calendar or that the fall calendar was a later innovation, is proven to be false by the evidence presented in this study.  So, while some believe that the original calendar was a spring-to-spring calendar, the Scriptural and historical evidence conclusively supports the fact that the original calendar was a fall-to-fall calendar, that the spring calendar was introduced to Israel at the time of the Exodus, and that both calendars (the spring and the fall calendar) were in continuous use even up to and including the present day.  In Judaism today, Rosh Hashanah (meaning "the head of the year") is celebrated on Tishri 1 as the beginning of the Jewish civil year, and it would seem this practice can be documented going back at least 2200 years.⁴⁹

Another chronologist, Roger Beckwith, in his book Calendar and Chronology, Jewish and Christian, points out that it is not just the opinion of the Rabbis that forms the basis of a fall new year, but historical documentation from a wide assortment of sources both prior to and contemporaneous with the days of Messiah:

The Jews had four new-year days, (M. Rosh ha-Shanah 1:1), but much the most important were Nisan 1, the new year for feasts, etc., and Tishri 1, the new year for sabbatical and jubilee years etc.  The former of these is the more prominent in the Old Testament, but the later is also found there, and has lately been the centre of a great deal of attention.  It was recognized at Qumran, as well as in mainstream Judaism: in the Qumran literature  also, "Rosh ha-Shanah" (New Year's Day) is a title for the feast on Tishri 1.^∫   First century evidence for the Tishri New-year is provided by Philo . . . and Josephus . . . and in the rabbinic literature it is attested from the outset.⁵⁰

It would seem that history and Scripture confirm the use of a Tishri (fall-to-fall) calendar in ancient history, all the way back to the times of Noah (c. 2400 BCE). Now in summary here are some Scripture questions which we should ponder:  Why does the 8th Hebrew month Bul mean "rain," and a closely related word mabul mean "flood," unless these are also connected with the flood of Noah (Genesis 7:11) in the 2nd month of a fall calendar?  Why would the author of the book of Kings say it took seven years for building the temple, yet it would take eight years based upon a Nisan calendar?  How could Josiah still be in his 18th year by the time of Passover using a Nisan calendar (which begins two weeks before Passover), when he was also in his 18th year several months earlier?  Why would Nehemiah and the Elephantine Jews (five centuries before the coming of Messiah) use a fall-to-fall calendar to date the reigns of Persian kings, when the Persians themselves would not typically do this?  Why would Genesis 7:11 give us a fall calendar date for the time of the flood using a fall-to-fall calendar?  Why would Josephus lend support to such a calendar (based on Genesis 7:11) in use prior to the exodus, calling it "the original order"? And finally, why would Moses command that the trumpet of the Jubilee should announce the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-10) in the month of Tishri, if the Jubilee year did not actually start at that time? Blowing a trumpet to announce something important (like the start of the year of Jubilee), and yet that Jubilee year would have started either six months in the past or six months into the future, does not really make much sense!  We could ask other questions as well, but this will be sufficient.  The only reasonable explanation to all of these questions is that the original calendar from Creation started in the fall and the Jews still continued to use this Tishri calendar for dating "foreign kings," for "the reckoning of years," and other matters, such as buying and selling and the Sabbatical and Jubilee years.  Since we have already clearly established that the Tishri calendar had to have been the original calendar in the time of Noah, it would also (naturally) have to be the calendar used to determine Sabbatical and Jubilee years―since those cycles have also been shown (through the Jubilee Code) to have existed from the time of Creation.

IMPRESIONANTE CONEXION 11 DE SEPTIEMBRE DEL 2001, 11 DE MARZO DEL 2004 Y 7 DE JULIO DEL 2004 CON EL 22 DE DICIEMBRE DEL 2012

Hay una impresionante interrelacion KAVALISTICA DEL 911 con el SALMO 119 y obviamente con la INDEPENDENCIA DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS. Entre el 11 de Septiembre del 2001 hasta el 11 de Marzo del 2004 tenemos exactamente 911 (anagrama de 119) dias y desde el 11 de Marzo 2004 hasta el 7 de Julio (LONDRES 2004) tenemos nuevamente el numero 119 interrelacionado con los dias. Si sumamos 911+119, osea 1030, tenemos la cantidad de dias en el PERIODO 11/9/2001 hasta el 7/7/2004. Si multiplicamos este ultimo numero por la cifra de 4 tenemos 4120 dias que es la CANTIDAD DE DIAS QUE HAY ENTRE EL 11 DE SEPTIEMBRE DEL 2001 HASTA EL 22/12/2012. AMIGO, KAVALISTICAMENTE, HAY UNA INTERRELACION MATEMATICA, INSISTO, ENTRE EL 911 CON EL FIN DEL CALENDARIO MAYA EN FUNCION AL SALMO 119 MUY INTERRELACIONADO CON LA INDEPENDENCIA DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, QUE ES EL SALMO MAS LARGO DE LA TORA, EL SALMO DE LA LEY. CUANDO NUESTRO SEÑOR JESUCRISTO EXPRESO EN JUAN 8:32 "QUE LA VERDAD OS HARA LIBRE", JUSTAMENTE ESTABA EXPRESANDO ESTE MISMO SALMO QUE TIENE UN FUERTE NEXO con el NUMERO 8 en funcion a que el mismo esta en funcion a las 22 letras hebrea. ESTE SALMO CONTIENE 22X8=176 VERSICULOS. OBSERVEN LAS MATEMATICAS

8+8=16

88+88=176

888+888=1776

888=GEMATRIA DE JESUS EN GRIEGO

280. Lucas 2:21: Cumplidos los ocho días para circuncidar al niño, le pusieron por nombre JESÚS, el cual le había sido puesto por el ángel antes que fuese concebido.

Jesus 888

The Greek word ee-ay-sooce' meaning "Jesus" has a gematria value of 888 units. Geometrically, Jesus is represented as a circle with the same circumference as his name.

http://jesus8880.com/chapters/gematria/jesus-888-8880.htm

Hagamos tres tiendas. La fiesta judía de los Tabernáculos/Sukkot y la Transfiguración cristiana (L. Biolatto)

Ayer escribí una reflexión general sobre el texto de la Transfiguración en Marcos, planteando sólo algunos de sus temas. Me ha contestado desde Córdoba, Argentina Leonardo Biolatto, joven, entusiasta, recordando amigos comunes. Me ha mandado unas páginas hermosas y muy documentadas sobre el fondo judío del relato y del misterio de la Transfiguración, partiendo de las palabras de Pedro: ¡Hagamos tres Tiendas! En el fondo está la Fiesta de Sukkot o de los Tabernáculos, la más gozosa de las fiestas judíos, unida a la experiencia de la peregrinación de la vida y a la esperanza mesiánica. No me ha pedido que os la ofrezca, pero lo hago con toda ilusión, esperando que complete lo que ayer dije. Leonardo (que trabaja en la Comisión Arquidiocesana de los Misioneros de Córdoba) es un muchacho alegre, gozoso de se cristiano. Así os presento su texto. Para quienes quieran saber más, les diré que tiene un blog personal que quiere ser "un espacio para hablar de la misión y para hablar de la Palabra de Dios. Los cristianos, espero, encontrarán una lectura actual de la Biblia que puede ser aplicable a la vida cotidiana..." (cf.http://blogs.clarin.com/usuarios/leonardo-biolatto). Hoy le cedo la palabra. Me la ha mandado, yo os la ofrezco.Nada más, ahí va el texto de Leonardo, a quien quien quiero dar gracias desde aquí, deseándole buen trabajo al servicio del Evangelio y de la vida, del gozo de la Transfiguración. Sigo deseándoos una buena preparación del Segundo Domingo de Cuaresma, domingo de la Transfiguración. Todo lo que sigue es suyo.

Entre todas las fiestas religiosas judías, una de ellas era la fiesta de los tabernáculos. Según el libro del Levítico, Yahvé dijo a Moisés lo siguiente: “En el séptimo mes la celebraréis. Durante los siete días habitaréis en cabañas” (Lev. 23, 41b-42a). Detrás de esta celebración se encontraba una tradición agrícola, como para la mayoría de las celebraciones de los pueblos de la antigüedad. En el libro del Éxodo encontramos la indicación de celebrar, por ejemplo, la fiesta de las semanas (Pentecostés) cuando comienza la siega del trigo, y la fiesta de la recolección o de los tabernáculos al cosechar (cf. Ex. 34, 22).

Entre las fiestas israelitas, tres implicaban, al menos en la legislación, trasladarse hacia el Templo para ofrecer ofrendas, sacrificios y holocaustos, las cuales eran las fiestas de los ázimos, de las semanas y de los tabernáculos (cf. Dt. 16, 16), constituyendo los eventos de peregrinación clásicos, los que implicaban movilización, traslado, procesión, con todo el sentido litúrgico de la misma, no meramente como un viaje más. La peregrinación es, desde sus comienzos, desde su preparación en el hogar del caminante, un espacio de liturgia, el comienzo de las fiestas.

¿Y qué relación tiene la fiesta de los tabernáculos con Jesús? O más precisamente, ¿qué relación tiene con la transfiguración? Pues bien, hay elementos que nos permiten relacionar ambos, penetrando más en el sentido de la fiesta y desgajando datos del relato evangélico:

- Ir al monte: Jesús toma a Pedro, Santiago y Juan, el trípode selecto que, en el Evangelio según Marcos, comparte en intimidad con el Maestro el milagro de la hija del jefe de la sinagoga (cf. Mc. 5, 37), la transfiguración, la explicación sobre los signos de los últimos tiempos (cf. Mc. 13, 3) y la oración agónica en Getsemaní (cf. Mc. 14, 33). Los cuatro suben, esta vez, a un monte alto. En el Antiguo Testamento, en referencia a la preparación de la fiesta de los tabernáculos, leemos que Esdras, sacerdote escriba, da la siguiente orden al pueblo: “Salid al monte y traed ramas de olivo, de pino, de mirto, de palmera y de otros árboles frondosos, para hacer cabañas conforme a lo escrito” (Neh. 8, 15). Al monte suben los israelitas para conseguir el material con el que construirán las tiendas de la fiesta; al monte suben los cuatro individuos del relato de Marcos.

- Apareció Elías: hay muchas y variadas explicaciones sobre la presencia de Elías en la transfiguración, pero vamos a analizar su relación con la fiesta de las tiendas. Es famosa una escena del profeta en la que sucede el desafío con los profetas de Baal, según el reto de ubicar dos novillos y pedir a Dios y a Baal que envíen fuego para consumirlos; si Yahvé lo enviaba, el pueblo lo adoraría y reconocería que era el Dios, sino sería Baal el verdadero (cf. 1Rey. 18, 23-24). Primeramente, los cuatrocientos cincuenta profetas de Baal imploran a su dios por el fuego, pero nunca desciende del cielo. Luego, Elías restaura el altar de Yahvé que estaba demolido (cf. 1Rey. 18, 30), toma doce piedras por cada tribu de Israel (cf. 1Rey. 18, 31), derrama grandes cantidades de agua (cf. 1Rey. 18, 34-35), desciende el fuego del cielo tras su invocación, los profetas falsos son degollados, Elías sube a la cima del Carmelo (cf. 1Rey. 18, 42), anuncia la lluvia y llueve (cf. 1Rey. 18, 41.45). Estos elementos recalcados en la narración, son significativos para la fiesta de los tabernáculos. En primer lugar, Elías restaura el culto a Yahvé restaurando el altar demolido; la fiesta era precedida por una purificación del Templo. Elías recuerda a cada tribu de Israel; en la fiesta, uno de sus significados era reunir a las doce tribus. Elías derrama agua en abundancia; en la fiesta, además de ser de las cosechas, se realizaban gestos para la fecundad de la próxima siembra, haciendo libaciones de agua. Elías sube al monte Carmelo; los israelitas son enviados por Esdras al monte, como ya mencionamos, para buscar con qué construir las tiendas. Elías anuncia la lluvia y llueve; si también era fiesta de la fecundidad de la tierra, la lluvia es un factor clave para el crecimiento de las cosechas. No podemos aseverar, a ciencia cierta, la correlación entre el episodio del profeta y la fiesta, pero hay elementos de cercanía.

- Apareció Moisés: Moisés es, sin dudas, el transmisor al pueblo de las disposiciones litúrgicas que Yahvé le ha comunicado. Baste citar Ex. 23, 16; Dt. 16, 13-17 ó Lev. 23, 23-24.

- Hacer tres tiendas: la propuesta de Pedro es construir algo que podemos intercambiar, verbalmente, como tiendas, chozas o tabernáculos. Aquí la referencia es la más clara que podemos hallar. El mismo texto señala que Pedro habla atemorizado, que no sabía qué decir, por ende, que expresó lo primero que vino a su cabeza; y no es difícil suponer que, si estaban en la época de la fiesta de los tabernáculos, lo primero que vino a la cabeza de Pedro fue construir las tiendas para pasar la noche bajo el motivo de la celebración.

- Una nube: Éxodo y Números son los libros que más recalcan la presencia de Yahvé como una nube que guía durante el día el peregrinar en el desierto. Si la nube se detenía, Israel se detenía y acampaba. Cuando la nube se elevaba, levantaban el campamento y seguían viaje. La nube es parte del éxodo, es un signo más de la historia en el desierto, del peregrinar, de la huida a la libertad. La nube es la presencia divina al lado de los rescatados, como compañía fiel. En la fiesta de los tabernáculos, los israelitas habitaban en tiendas para recordar esa forma de vida de sus antepasados durante la marcha en el desierto.

Aún queda por responder cuál es el sentido de la fiesta de las tiendas en la vida y misión de Jesús. ¿Qué nos quiere transmitir el Evangelio? ¿Qué tiene de Jesús la fiesta? ¿Qué tiene de la fiesta la existencia de Jesús? Era una celebración que había adquirido, con el tiempo, muchos significados, y todos ellos, de una u otra manera, se habían re-significado, sobre todo por los profetas. Podríamos esbozar como línea cronológica: la fiesta meramente agrícola – el agregado de significado religioso judío – su reglamentación – su reinterpretación profética. Veamos, entonces, qué celebraba Israel y qué aporta Jesús a esas celebraciones:

- Fin de un año y comienzo del otro: la fiesta marcaba un ritmo cronológico, que si bien no se ubicaba en el estricto principio del nuevo año (correspondiente a la fiesta de Rosh Hashanah), estaba en los inicios, y además cerraba un ciclo con la cosecha y recolección para comenzar otro de siembra. Era una fiesta de fin y comienzo, una fiesta de los ciclos, si se quiere. Será la corriente profética la que traducirá ese fin y comienzo de año en fin y comienzo de era. Para el siglo I d.C., la fiesta marcaba el ritmo anual, pero mucho más, siendo también espera del ritmo mesiánico, de la irrupción del Mesías para abrir el nuevo año definitivo, la nueva era. Ya podemos ir develando qué aporta Jesús a la celebración; y es su misma Persona, su mesianismo que, expresado en la transfiguración como enviado del Padre y testimoniado por Elías y Moisés, trae la era definitiva. Lo que espera la fiesta de los tabernáculos ya ha llegado, y la propuesta de Pedro de las tiendas carece de sentido, porque el que tenía que venir ya está aquí.

- Purificación: los tabernáculos son precedidos por el día de Yom Kippur o de la expiación, desarrollado en el capítulo 16 de Levítico. La expiación era un sacrificio por los pecados y por la limpieza del Templo. Será Heb. 9, 11-14 quien explique por qué es caduca esta expiación, debido a la sangre del Cristo que es muchísimo más superior a la sangre de cualquier animal sacrificado. En la misma línea que el significado anterior, Jesús viene a colmar las expectativas de la fiesta y a ofrecer el último sacrificio, declarando la caducidad de esa purificación ritual. La transfiguración está, en el Evangelio según Marcos, dentro del recorrido de Jesús con sus discípulos subiendo hacia Jerusalén, subiendo hacia la culminación en la cruz. La transfiguración es gloria, pero en un camino de cruz, es la belleza de la resurrección, pero aún camino a la muerte. Jesús acaba de realizar el primer anuncio de la pasión (cf. Mc. 8, 31), está conciente de lo que le espera. Pedro quiere festejar los tabernáculos allá arriba, en las alturas del monte; Jesús prefiere bajar y seguir viaje, porque debe ir a Jerusalén.

- Fecundidad: como fiesta de fin y comienzo, de conclusivo cierre y nueva apertura, trae lo recolectado y se agradece por ello, pero también se pide por lo nuevo, por lo que viene. En este sentido, los tabernáculos eran la ocasión de los ritos de fecundidad, comunes en las creencias primitivas y subsistentes en los posteriores grandes sistemas religiosos. Uno de los reconocidos ritos consistía en agitar ramas y palmas (cf. 2Mac. 10, 7), otro eran las libaciones de agua. La tradición profética reinterpretó estos ritos en un sentido mesiánico. Isaías, por ejemplo, dirá que “todos los árboles del campo batirán palmas” (Is. 55, 12b), mientras Zacarías asegurará que en el Día de Yahvé “manarán de Jerusalén aguas vivas” (Zac. 14, 8). La fecundidad de la tierra es tomada por los profetas para hablar de la fecundidad de la era mesiánica, caracterizada por gozo y abundancia, por las palmas batidas de alegría hasta por los árboles, por las aguas que se esparcen desde Jerusalén para hacer florecer todo, para sembrar todos los campos del mundo. La tradición joánica no ha dejado de lado estos símbolos, en la entrada triunfal de Jesús sobre el borriquillo (cf. Jn. 12, 13), por ejemplo, o en la declaración: “Si alguno tiene sed, que venga a mí, y beberá” (Jn. 7, 37).

El camino que recorre Jesús con sus discípulos hacia la cruz viene a traer la fecundidad, por más absurdo que parezca, porque la muerte engendrará vida, porque la transfiguración ya es un fruto del sendero hacia la crucifixión. Marcos sí nos conservará esta paradoja cristiana: “Quien quiera salvar su vida, la perderá; pero quien pierda su vida por mí y por el Evangelio, la salvará” (Mc. 8, 35).

- Éxodo: vivir en tiendas durante siete días era experimentar, en la medida de lo posible, la vivencia de los antepasados israelitas durante el éxodo, viviendo en chozas durante cuarenta años, caminando la libertad hacia la tierra prometida, en la compañía constante de Dios a pesar de las infidelidades. Israel se define como pueblo a partir de la experiencia del éxodo, y eso queda firmemente grabado en la memoria colectiva. Los padres que relataban a sus hijos la historia del desierto les estaban transmitiendo lo íntimo del judaísmo, la experiencia inicial de liberación y alianza. La corriente profética, en algunos momentos, relacionó la época de las tiendas en el desierto con una época de comunión con Dios, debido a la presencia elocuente de Yahvé en la nube de día y la columna de fuego en la noche. Esa cercanía divina permitía mirar el final de los tiempos como el momento de nueva cercanía de Dios, la época del Dios-con-nosotros. Oseas contiene la promesa de volver a habitar en tiendas y de la multiplicación de los profetas (cf. Os. 12, 10-11) como signo del regreso de la Palabra de Dios al pueblo. Jesús es el Dios-con-nosotros, es la esperanza de vivir en tiendas en comunión con Dios. Jesús es, también, la Palabra de Dios, que viene al encuentro del hombre y la mujer. Jesús es la alianza definitiva. Toda la temática del desierto y del futuro escatológico basado en el desierto que elaboraron los profetas, encuentra su cumplimiento en Jesucristo. A la fiesta recordatoria del Éxodo, comenzado en la Pascua judía, Jesús trae la Pascua cristiana, la Pascua de la resurrección, prefigurada en la transfiguración.

- Pueblo: como dijimos antes, la experiencia de liberación de Egipto es médula israelita, y es el evento que conforma al pueblo. La fiesta de las tiendas, entonces, tiene también una dimensión nacionalista, de identidad racial y de celebración de haber sido reunidos por Dios para conformar su pueblo. Todas las tribus de Israel debían reunirse para los tabernáculos, todas debían celebrar lo mismo, todas debían recordar el éxodo y la vida en el desierto con el mismo espíritu. El pueblo de los antepasados que caminaron cuarenta años, es el pueblo actual que se congrega. La corriente profética, en este caso, relacionó la idea escatológica de la unión de todas las naciones a Israel con la reunión de las tiendas. Si las doce tribus se congregaban para celebrar su condición de Pueblo de Dios, en el final de los tiempos todas las naciones reconocerían a Yahvé y a la elección divina de Israel, y todos los hombres y mujeres tendrían el mismo Dios, y todos podrían celebrar la fiesta de las tiendas, porque todos serían el mismo pueblo. Eso deja entrever Zac. 14, 16, aunque con matices nacionalistas propios del judaísmo: “Los supervivientes de todas las naciones que atacaron Jerusalén subirán de año en año a postrarse ante el Rey Yahvé Sebaot y a celebrar la fiesta de las Tiendas”. No hay aquí una declaración misionera, pero sí denota un camino profético abierto hacia la universalidad, bajo la concepción judía, pero al fin y al cabo, camino abierto.

Jesús, formador de comunidades, Salvador universal, viene a que los hombres y las mujeres se reconozcan hijos e hijas de Dios, y hermanos y hermanas entre sí. Esta ansia de ver el mundo entero celebrando las tiendas, es el ansia que el universalismo cristiano tiene: formar la gran familia del Pueblo de Dios. Aquella experiencia de la liberación de Egipto, base de formación de Israel, es sólo apariencia comparada con la resurrección de Jesús, base para la formación del Pueblo de Dios universal.

Nuestras culturas también tienen fiestas que buscan, de alguna manera imperfecta, celebrar lo grupal o la unión. Desde las reuniones familiares estipuladas en el almuerzo del domingo a las manifestaciones espontáneas de festejo de los hinchas de un club por el logro que éste alcanza. Son fiestas de pertenencia, de compartir algo, de identificarse. En la familia, los integrantes se reconocen parte de la misma mesa y comensales de la misma comida. Los hinchas, en las calles, entre tambores, bocinas y gritos, reconocen al otro que se ha alegrado con lo mismo que uno, y por deducción, que se ha entristecido en los mismos episodios. Son uniones imperfectas, decimos, y fiestas limitadas, porque en nada se comparan a la celebración que debiese originar la comunión en Jesucristo. Así como la fiesta de los tabernáculos es superada por la llegada del Mesías que abre la nueva era, que realiza la purificación definitiva, que inaugura los tiempos de fecundidad, que vive como Dios-con-nosotros, que se hace un pueblo a través de la definitiva alianza, así el hombre y la mujer actual pueden ver desbordados sus deseos de unión en el Evangelio.

A los lazos familiares, limitados, circunscriptos a la sangre, la adopción o la convivencia, Jesús presenta la expansión de esos lazos con la ampliación de la familia. Ya no es la sangre ni son los papeles judiciales los que determinan con quién debo compartir la mesa. Es la Palabra de Dios la que vincula, es la misma Trinidad que interviene en la historia humana para formar una gran familia de toda raza. Al esquema rígido de familias, tribus, naciones, opone Jesús el sistema abierto de inclusión total y universal. Por otro lado, siguiendo nuestros ejemplos, a la relación de los hinchas, espontánea y momentánea, signada por la consecución de un título o un logro, Jesús presenta la comunión firme y duradera, contra cualquier tribulación, en las alegrías y en las tristezas.

No es algo ocasional la propuesta de Jesús, sino la alianza definitiva que forma un Pueblo para siempre, un Pueblo en comunión de amor, dispuesto a celebrar con la obtención de logros, pero también dispuesto a celebrar en las épocas tristes, de sequía, en la dureza de las persecuciones, en el desierto peregrinante que parece no acabar nunca.

El tema eje de la cuaresma del ciclo B de lecturas litúrgicas es la alianza. Pues bien, los siete días vividos en chozas por los judíos recordaban la travesía del desierto, el éxodo, la liberación de Egipto y la alianza del Antiguo Testamento. La transfiguración viene como evento superador de los tabernáculos, por ende, como nueva alianza, haciendo las veces de punto central en un arco que comienza en el bautismo del Señor y acaba en la Pascua.

En el bautismo se oye la voz del Padre (cf. Mc. 1, 11) y aquí también. En la Pascua hallamos un joven con túnica blanca (cf. Mc. 16, 5), y aquí las vestiduras de Jesús son tan blancas como ningún batanero podría blanquearlas. Uniendo los tres puntos de la historia de Jesús (bautismo, transfiguración, Pascua), formamos el arco de su vida que revela su identidad. Él es el enviado del Padre, el que hace la Voluntad de Dios, el avalado por Elías y Moisés, el Mesías esperado en los tabernáculos, el Hijo de Dios, el Crucificado, el Resucitado, el hacedor de la nueva alianza.

Una misión que invite a la alianza es una misión cristológica. A esas fiestas de nuestra cultura, imperfectas, debemos ofrecer la propuesta superadora de Jesús, la propuesta de comunión permanente y universal. Escuchamos hablar mucho de nacionalismos, de patriotismo, de regionalismo, de pertenencia, pero siempre implican estas palabras dividir el mundo entre los de adentro y los de afuera. Jesús propone la alianza del único Pueblo de Dios, de la gran familia. La evangelización no puede dejar de hacer notar esta invitación a la unidad, aunque implique poner el dedo sobre la llaga de los partidismos políticos, de la brecha económica o de las condiciones sociales. El arco de la vida de Jesús es un arco de restauración, de reunificación, de fraternidad. Callar ante las divisiones, ante las fiestas que son, en su fondo, delimitaciones sectarias (familia sanguínea o club del simpatizante), es callar el proyecto del Reino de Dios, y callar el Reino es, con seguridad, lo opuesto a la misión.

LEONARDO BIOLATTO
ICTUS: Ieosus Christos Theos Uios Soteros

The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Pamphlet #629
with permission from King's Chapel

July 4th, 1776

Not many people in our land know that July 4, 1776, was truly a benchmark in Biblical history and that it was the exact fulfillment of Bible prophecy. They are also amazed when they discover that both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the 2nd and 3rd Presidents respectively, died on July 4th, 1826, exactly 50 years to the day from the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the event we celebrate today.