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IntroductiontotheCalendaroftheDeadSeaScrolls
Asyoulookatthiscalendar,keepEzekiel’swheelsinyourmind.Therearecyclesofsixyears,
threeyears,threemonths,50days,onemonth,lunarcycles,etc.Thisofcoursealsosomehow
worksintheadditionalcyclesofsevenyearsandjubileeyears.
First,Iwillshowthebasicmonth.Eachboxbelowoutlinedinredrepresentsonemonth.Each
monthhasexactly30days,exceptforthelastdayofeachquarter,whichhas31days.Thisextra
daymarkstheequinoxesandsolstices.Intotal,thereareexactly52weeksperyear,whichis
364days.However,Enochwarnsthatincalculatingtheyear,menerrbycountingthesefour
extradays[Enochchapter74].Therefore,whennumberingthedaysoftheyear,theextradays
areskipped.Ifyouhavefivemonths,compute5x30=150.42monthsis42x30=1,260days.
Eachquarterisoutlinedinblue.Noticethateachquarterbeginsonthesameday–thefourth
dayoftheweek.Thisisunderstandablesincethesun,moonandstarswerecreatedonthefourth
day,andthesethingsaretheelementsthatYahputinplacetodividethedays,appointedtimes,
years,etc.IntheDeadSeaScrolls,thereareseveralcalendricaldocumentswhichaddressoneor
morespecificelementsaboutthecalendar,suchaswhatpriestisservingduringaparticular
week,quarter,feastday,lunarcycle,etc.So,inthequartersoftheyear,thereisthenameofa
priest,whohappenstobethepriestthatalsoservesatthebeginningweekofthatquarter.
Eachpriestclanwillserveforonequarteroverthesixyearperiod.Plus,eachpriestclanserves
foroneweekapproximatelytwiceayear.Theweekthataclanserveschangesbyacouple
weekseachyearuntiltheendofthesixthyear.Thenthecycleisreadytostartoveragainwith
Gamul.
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Thesixyearsaredividedintwogroupsofthreeyears,basedonthecycleofthemoon.Ihave
outlinedalternatelunarcycleswithpurpleandyellow.Eachcycleoscillatesbetween29and30
days.Noticethenameofthepriestaffiliatedwiththelunarcycleisthepriestwhohappenstobe
servingtheweekthatparticularcyclebegins.
Aswecontinuethroughayear,thelunarcycleslipsinitsrelationshiptothedefined30day
month.Bythetimewegettotheendofthefirstyear,wehaveanadditional10daysleftover:
Attheendoftwoyears,thereare20extradaysleftover.Attheendofthethirdyear,thereisa
fullthirtydaysleftover,oronefullmonth.Thisprovidesameansforapersontodefinewhich
yearofthethreeyearcyclewearein,whichisimportantforsettingasideatitheforthepoor.
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Thegrayshadedboxesrepresentthefeastdays.Inthisdiagram,the14
th
ofthefirstmonth,
circledinred,isPassover.Maaziahisthepriestservingthatmonthforthisyear,andPassover
ALWAYSfallsonthe3
rd
dayoftheweek,yearafteryear.The14
th
ofthesecondmonthisthe
alternateday.Inblue,wehavethefirstandlastdaysoftheFeastofUnleavenedBread.
NoticethatthecalendarfromtheDeadSeaScrollshasthedayofFirstFruitsonthefirstdayof
theweekafterUnleavenedBreadiscompletelyfinished.InLeviticus23,thefeastsarealllisted
chronologically.ThedayofFirstFruitsislistedafterboththefirstandlastdaysofUnleavened
Bread.ThisdayalignswiththedaythatYeshuaappearedtoallofthedisciples,including
Thomas,whichwasabout8daysafterhisresurrection[John20:26].
ThisplacementofFirstFruitscausestheFeastofWeeks,Shavuot/Pentecost,tofallonthe15
th
of
the3
rd
montheveryyear.Thisplacementisconsistentwithextra-biblicaldocumentssuchasthe
bookofJubilees,alsorecoveredintheDeadSeaScrolls.
IntheTempleScroll,amongtheDeadSeaScrolls,thereareacoupleofadditionalfeaststhatare
notlistedinthecanonizedscripture.ThesefeastsaretheFeastofWine,Oil,andWood.The
FeastofWeeks(Shavuout/Pentecost)isacelebrationofthewheatharvest,whichcomes50days
afterthebarleyharvest.TheFeastofWinecomes50daysafterthewheat,andtheFeastofOil
comes50daysafterthewine.Thesefeastsarealsolistedinthecalendricaldocumentswhich
specificallydetailthedayandmonththattheyfallon.Whiletheyarespecificallyaddressedin
thecanonizedscripture,wheat,wineandoilareoftengroupedtogether.TheFeastofWoodisa
feastthatrequires2tribestobringtheirwoodtothetempleeachdayforsixdays.Itbegins
immediatelyaftertheFeastofOil,howeverIwasunsureifitbeganthesamedayorthenext
day.Ioptedforthesamedaysothatitdidn’tconflictwiththeSabbathday.
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Thefallfeastsarelikewiseshowningrayshadedboxes.TheDayofTrumpets,YomTeruah,
fallsonthe4
th
dayoftheweekeveryyear.Oneofthereasonsthattrumpetsareblownisforthe
crowningofaking.ThesagesholdthatitwasonthisdaythatYahwascrownedKingofall
creation.Thisisreasonableonthe4
th
dayoftheweek,becauseonthe4
th
dayofcreation,when
theluminariesweremade,wehavethefirstmentionofrulershipgiven.Thegreaterluminary
wastoruletheday,andthelesserwastorulethenight.Authoritytorulecannotbegivenunless
someonewithahigherauthoritygivesit.
TheJewishcalendarsystemislunarbasedwithcorrectionstokeepthefeastsinthecorrect
positionintheyear,aswellasadditionalcorrectionstokeepcertainfeastsfromfallingoncertain
daysoftheweek.Forinstance,theDayofAtonement,YomKippur,isNEVER,EVER,EVER
supposedtofallonthesixthdayoftheweekbecauseitwouldbetoomuchofahardshiptohave
itthedaybeforeSabbath,becauseitislistedasaSabbathitself.So,adjustmentsaremadetothe
Jewishcalendartopreventthisfromhappening.However,asyoucansee,ontheDeadSea
ScrollscalendaritfallsonthesixthdayEVERYYEAR.
Thereisaparallelinscripture:YomKippur,theDayofAtonement,isactuallycalledaSabbath
bytheexactsamelanguageastheweeklySabbathisdefined.Thisistheonlyholydaythatthis
happensfor.So,inasense,wehavetwoSabbathsback-to-back.Intheyearlymodel,wealso
havetwoSabbathsback-to-back.The49
th
yearisaSabbath(sevenxsevenyears)andthe50
th
year,theJubilee,isaSabbath.And,inthe49
th
year,onthedayofYomKippur,thetrumpetis
blownconsecratingtheJubileeyear.
Thiscalendarissupposedtostayoncourseyearafteryear.Wehaveabout365.25daysperyear
fromourperspective,sofora364daycalendartonotdrift,thenadayinthiscalendarisnot
equivalenttoadayonourlocalcalendar.Somepeopleproposeaddingextradaysorweeksafter
acertainperiodoftime.However,thevariousscrollsareclearthattheyearstartswhentheday
andnightareequalandthenthedaybeginstogrowlongerthanthenight.Thisbeginningis
knowntousasthespringequinox.However,ourdefinitionand/orperspectivemaynotbe
correctonthis,either.Anotherdeterminationofthestartoftheyearandofthelengthofthe
monthsisthesunpassingthrough‘gates’.Itstartsinthe4
th
gate,whereitrisesandsetsfor30
days.Itthenpassesintothe5
th
gatefor30days…seeEnochchapter71.Genesischapter1says
thatthelightsintheheavensseparatethedayfromthenightandareforsigns,appointedtimes,
daysandyears.Theselightsincludethetwogreatlightsandthestars.Enochtalksaboutthesun
passingthroughgates,followedbythemoonpassingthroughgates.Perhapsthestarsformthe
gates.
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Ihaverecentlystartedlookingatastronomy.Ihavediscoveredsomeamazingthingsaboutour
solarsystem,suchasalmosteverythinginoursolarsystemspinsaroundinthesameplane,likea
spinningbicyclewheel.Thisplaneiscalledtheecliptic.Thefamiliar12constellationsthat
formthezodiacarealsoonthatplane.Onthestarfinderwheels,theconstellationsarethesame
eachyearatthattimeoftheyear.Onthefollowingdiagram,theconstellationscanbeusedto
breakuptheskyinto360degreesandformthesixgatesofEnoch.
Istillhavemanyquestionsabouthowtoimplementsuchacalendar.RecentlyIlearnedofan
ancientsetofastronomicaltabletscalledtheMUL.APINwhichisthoughttorepresentthe
knowledgeofastronomyfromasearlyas1500BC.Oneofthesectionsofthetabletshasthe
namesofeachofthemonths.ComparethemtothemodernHebrewnames:
Nisannu(Nisan),Ajjaru(Iyar),Simanu(Sivan),Du’uzu(Tammuz),Abu(Av),Ululu(Elul),
Tashritu(Tishri),Arachsamma(Marheshvan),Kislimu(Chislev),Tebetu(Tebeth),Shabatu
(Shevat),andAddaru(Adar).Itsaysthatonthe1
st
ofNisannu,the‘agrarianworker’(also
knownasthe‘hiredman’)isvisible.ThisconstellationispartofwhatwenowknowasAries.
Formoreinformation,gotowww.geocities.com/astrologymulapin.
Onefinalnote:NoticethatthePriestinchargeofthelastquarterisnamedYeshua.Perhapsthis
isrepresentativeofYeshua’sreturn,andthereasonthereisno7
th
yearrecordedisbecausehis
rulewillnotend.Pleaseemailmeatsharifreeland@comcast.netifyouhaveanyfurtherinsight.
Shalom.
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