For this subject, we need to start at creation in Genesis 1:2, where the earth is described as what it was like before God made the earth a suitable habitation for plant and animal life, and then created man in the image of God. Genesis 1:2-8, 2 “And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Notice what was divided on the first and second day of creation. 4 “And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide (#914) the waters from the waters. The word firmament Strong’s Concordance #7549 is defined as, an expanse, i.e. the firmament (apparent) visible arch of the sky.) 7 And God made the firmament, and divided (#914) the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.”
Paraphrasing verses 9-13, the waters under the heaven were gathered together in the Seas and dry land appeared and was called Earth. Plant life: grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit trees yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed was in itself came forth on the earth in the third day.
The various lights in the firmament of heaven on the fourth day were created to divide the day from the night and to give light upon the earth. Genesis 1:14-18, 14 “And God said, let there be lights (#3974, a luminous body or luminary) in the firmament of the heaven to divide (#914) the day from the night: and let them (lights to divide) be for signs (#226) and for seasons (#4150), and for days (#3117), and years (#8141). 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: and he made the stars also.” (These lights to divide and rule are named in Psalms 136:7-9 and Jeremiah 31:35.)
The greater light, the sun, is the self luminous gaseous sphere of heat and light about which the earth and some planets make a revolution around. It takes the earth a year of time, which is an average of 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds, to make a revolution around the sun. While making the yearly revolution around the sun, the earth also revolves on the earth’s axis each day, making the sun appear to us to be rising and setting in a general east/west direction.
The moon is the lesser light which revolves counterclockwise around the earth once, about every 29 ½ days, and shines reflective sunlight on the earth at night, except at new moon when the moon is directly between the sun and earth. The stars also reflect light at night.
Notice what God states in Genesis 1:17-18. 17 “And God set them (the sun and moon) in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth. 18 And to rule (#4910, to rule: ruler, reign, dominion) over the day and over the night, and to divide (#914) the light from darkness: and God saw that it was good.” (The words divide and divided that we read in verses 4, 6, 7, 14, 18 are Strong’s #914, for the Hebrew word, badal, baw-dal’; to divide (in various senses lit. or fig., separate, distinguish, differ, select.)
As we read these verses, the primary purpose for which the sun and moon were created was to give light upon the earth and to rule over the day and to rule over the night, and to divide the light from darkness. The sun and moon are for signs that signal the beginning for seasons, for days and years. (The word signs, #226, owth, oth; a signal (lit. or fig.), as a flag, beacon, monument, evidence.)
SEASONS
Let’s look first for what signals the beginning of seasons. Psalms 104:19 states: “He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knows his going down.” The seasons (#4150, appointed times, set feasts) are appointed by the dark new moons.
The moon rules the beginning and ending of a month when the last direct sunlight disappears from view on the moon at the sign of the conjunction of the sun and moon. The beginning of the dark new moon that ends the old month and begins the new month is like the ending and beginning of a day, they end and start at the first minute of zero percent illumination of direct sunlight.
The feast dates of Leviticus, chapter 23 are counted from the beginning of the dark new moons or beginning of months, the same way Israel was instructed to offer various offerings in the beginnings of your months, for every month throughout the months of the year, (Num. 28:11-14; Num. 10:10). The word seasons in Psalms 104:19 is the same as seasons in Genesis 1:14, which is #4150, mo’ed’, mo-ade’; properly an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; specifically a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand):--- congregation, feast, season, appointed, time, assembly, solemnity, solemn, days, sign, synagogues. These various meanings are usually condensed to mean the Lord’s, “appointed times, set feasts.”
Leviticus, chapter 23, is where all the feasts of the Lord are listed, this same Hebrew word, #4150, mo’ed’ is translated “feasts” in verses 1- 4. KJV. 1 “And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, concerning the “feasts” (#4150, appointed times, set feasts) of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my “feasts” (#4150). 3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. 4 These are the “feasts” (#4150) of the LORD, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their “seasons” (#4150, appointed times, set feasts). In these verses, the LORD tells us that the weekly sabbath and “feasts” are the LORD’S “appointed times, set feasts.” The moon also rules the number of new moons in the year, 12 or 13.
The dark new moon is different from the crescent moon, which is a false image or idol, that many people (1 Chronicles 16:26) and nations (Psalms 96:5) use to worship their false gods, idols. The crescent moon occurs several days after the dark new moon begins because the dark new moon can remain invisible in the heavens for about three days. A month is the number of days from the beginning of one dark new moon until the beginning of the following dark new moon which usually takes 29 or 30 days to complete the cycle.
DAYS
What signals the beginning of days? The sun rules the beginning and ending of a day with the sign of the sun setting below the horizon of the earth at the location of the observer. The present day ends and a new day begin when the sun sets below the horizon, at even or evening. Genesis 1: verses 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, and 31 tell us how God counts a day: “So the evening and the morning were the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth day. Seven complete dark/light cycles of evening and morning days are a week. (Note: The exact time when the sun sets below the horizon and ends one day and starts a new day depends upon where the location is upon the earth. For example, at the east coast of the United States the sun sets below the horizon hours earlier than at the west coast.)
YEARS
The sun and moon signals the beginning and ending of years in March on the Gregorian civil calendar when the length of day and night is closest to being divided twelve hours in length. Twelve hours and one minute will be the maximum length.
For most locations on earth, there are two distinct identifiable days per year when the length of day and night are closest to being equal. Those are the days when darkness and daylight are closest to being divided 12 hours in length by the sun and moon. On the date of the 12 hours of day and night on September 26th or 27th is the day when the sun and moon divide the day so there are again 12 hours of darkness in the night after the longest three or four days of 14 hours and 14 minutes duration of daylight in the day and only 9 hours and 46 minutes of darkness in the night during the month of June on the civil Gregorian calendar that is used today.
On the date of the 12 hours of day and night in March is the day when the sun and moon divide the day and night so there are again 12 hours of daylight in the day after the longest nights, 13 hours and 56 minutes duration of darkness, usually on December 21st or 22nd and only 10 hours and 4 minutes of daylight duration. The 12 hours of daylight will occur on one day, the 16th or 17th day of March for Jerusalem, Israel location.
The divided 12 hour day and night at Jerusalem, Israel location which occurs on March 16th or 17th also marks the beginning of the solar or tropical year. This location is determined from the scriptures listed below. It is obvious that Jerusalem is the place where God has chosen to dwell and count time from because Moses was telling Israel about the land they were going to possess; and in Deuteronomy 11:12 Moses states: “A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.” Leviticus 25:38, “I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God”. Jerusalem is located in the land of Canaan in Zion, a term for Jerusalem, where the Lord dwelleth, Psalms 9:11; 48:1-8; 132:13. The last part of 2 Chronicles 33:4 states…. “In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.” The prophecy in Zechariah 14:16-19 of the future. 16 “And it shall come to pass that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.” Isaiah’s prophecy of the last days when all the nations shall flow unto the Lord’s house at Jerusalem and be taught God’s ways, Isaiah 2:1-3. The holy, New Jerusalem is where God himself will dwell with His people, Revelation 21:2-3, 10-27.
For most locations on earth, we can go to the U.S. Naval Observatory Web site and print the “Sun Rise/Set Table for One Year” that will show when the length of day is closest to being divided 12 hours in length which will occur in March and September. If one date is not divided 12 hours in length, the “Daylight or Darkness Duration Table for One Year” will show the date when the day or night reaches 12 hours and 1 minute in length during the year.
Since the ancients were not able to measure accurate hours and minutes like the observatories do today, someone may ask, what is the sign that Israel could see and know when the equal day and night occurs at their location?
In about 2570 BC the ancients completed building the Great Pyramid of Giza that is bordering what is now Cairo, Egypt. It was built in true north/south and east/west directions. One of the uses of the pyramid was to determine by the sign of the shadow of the sun when the two cycles of 12 hour night and day and night occur in the year. On the two days of the year when 12 hours of night and day occurs, the shadow of the sun will follow the true east/west line of the pyramid. They did not have to go to man’s devised (908, to invent), imaginary, invisible equator located midway between the earths north and south poles to know when the new year and their food harvest cycles begin and end in the year at their location.
We know the knowledge of how to build sundials to keep time during daylight was known in about 617 BC when the good king Hezekiah, king of Judah, was told by the prophet Isaiah that the Lord would heal him and add 15 years to his life. Hezekiah asked Isaiah for a sign from the Lord. In 2 Kings 20: 9-11 we can read what Isaiah said. 9 “And Isaiah said, This sign shall you have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? 10 And Hezekiah answered. It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: no, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. 11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.” (King Ahaz was Hezekiah’s father. Evidently, Hezekiah could see the sign at his location.)
We have read where God used the shadow of the sun for a sign. The ancients could determine by observing the signs of the sun and moon: the beginning and ending of seasons, days and years. It also appears that God would approve the use of the sign of the sun’s shadow on a true east/west line on a flat level base to determine the dates when the 12 hour nights and days occur in the months of March and September. When the shadow of the sun will follow the true east/west line all day at that location; that is the date when sunlight and darkness are closest to being divided 12 hours in length by the sun and moon.
TEQUPHAH
In order to finish the subject of years, we need to understand the meanings of the Hebrew word tequphah which is thought by many to be the Hebrew word for the Latin word equinox. Strong’s #8622, tequ-phah, tek-oo-faw’; from 5362; a revolution, i.e. (of the sun) course, (of time) lapse: --- end {2x}, circuit {1x}, come about {1x}. The meaning of the Latin word equinox: “the time of equal days and nights.” The equinox that the observatories determine at the equator are man devised and occurs two times in the year, usually March 20th or 21st and September 22nd or 23rd on the civil Gregorian calendar when adjusted to Israel time zone. We will read the four scriptures where the Hebrew word tequphah is used and determine if they define what man calls an equinox, “the time of equal days and night.” As Paul instructs in 1Thessalonians 5:21, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
We will start where the Hebrew word tequphah is translated as come about in 1 Samuel 1:20. “Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about (#8622) after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of the Lord.” The words come about in this verse is Strong’s #8622, the Hebrew word tequphah, tek-oo-faw’; a revolution, i.e. (of the sun) course, (of time) lapse: -- end [2x], circuit [1x], come about [1x].
Note: By looking up the numbers of Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible for various words in the scriptures, we can use the appropriate Strong’s Dictionary and get the original Greek, Hebrew (or Aramaic) word translated into the English language with additional “Brief English definitions (shown by italics.)”
When we look up Strong’s brief italics English definitions: revolution, course, and lapse in Webster’s Dictionary, we can get a better understanding of the word definitions: revolution: 1. a movement of a body in an orbit. 2. a turning around an axis; rotation. 3. a complete cycle of events. In regard (of the sun) course is defined: 1. an onward movement; progress. 2. a way, path, or channel. 3. the direction taken. Some of the meanings in regard (of time) lapse: a passing or passage of time; also interval: the time between events.
Here in 1 Samuel 1:20, this verse states: “when the time was come about.” As the dictionary defined earlier, a revolution (of time) is “a movement of a body in an orbit” for example: the time it takes the earth to make one revolution around the sun, 365 or 366 days, a solar year. A revolution (of time) is also defined as “a complete cycle of events.” The meanings of the word lapse were defined as a passing or passage of time; also interval: the time between events. The definitions that apply to this verse are a complete cycle of events (pregnancy) and the definition of lapse, a passing or passage of time; also interval: the time between events. It usually takes a lapse or interval of about nine months of time between events of when Hannah had conceived and the birth of the son. Tequphah in this verse is speaking about a cycle of events. When the time between events of conception and birth was come about, a complete cycle of events came to an end. The word cycle is defined as: an interval of time during which a sequence of recurring succession of events is complete. Note: This verse is not speaking of an equinox.
The second verse we read is where tequphah is translated “circuit” in Psalms 19:6. This verse is written here with Strong’s brief English definition in italics and Webster’s definitions added. Psalms 19:6, “His going forth is from the end (#7097) extremity = [Webster’s] the outermost part) of the heaven and his circuit (#8622, a revolution [of the sun] course = [Webster’s] an onward movement, a path) unto the ends (#7098, a termination = [Webster’s] to come to an end) of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.” (#2535, heat, by implication the sun.)
In this verse tequphah is translated as a circuit (#8622), a revolution (of the sun) course, (of time) lapse. The sun does not make a revolution in an orbit around the earth. The earth makes a revolution, (of the sun) course, an onward movement, path, in an orbit around the sun, which takes a lapse or passing of a year of time to complete. While following its path or orbit around the sun, which takes a lapse or passing of a year of time to complete, the earth also rotates on its axis each day, making the sun appear to be rotating around the earth. Because the earth is rotating on its axis, the sun appears to be rising and setting in a general east/west direction all around the earth and as the earth makes a complete rotation on its axis each day, nothing in that east/west direction is hid from the sun’s heat and light. Note: This verse is not speaking of an equinox.
One of the two places where the word end is translated as the Hebrew word tequphah is found in Exodus 34:22, “And you shall observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest (Feast of Pentecost), and the feast of ingathering (Feast of Tabernacles) at the year’s (#8141) end (#8622).” The word end, tequphah, in this verse is talking about: a revolution (of time) lapse. As stated earlier, one of the definitions of revolution of time is a complete cycle of events, and the word lapse means a passing or a passage of time; also interval, the time between events. This verse is describing a revolution of time of a complete cycle of events; the events are the agricultural food harvests that end after a lapse or passage of time after they were planted. The feast of tabernacles occurs at the year’s end of major food harvests in the year. In this verse the year’s end major food harvests of the agricultural cycle of what was sown in the field has come to its end. Note: This verse is not speaking of an equinox.
After the Feast of Tabernacles and after the first rains begin, the agricultural cycle of replanting the grain fields takes place, starting a new complete cycle of events, seedtime and harvest, so there will be grain to harvest near the next cycle of God’s feasts in the new solar or tropical year.
Exodus 23:16 is speaking about the same events as Exodus 34:22. We will get a better understanding of the end of the year in Exodus 23:16. “And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end (#3318) of the year, (#8141) when you have gathered in your labors out of the field.”
Of the 31 Hebrew words for the word end, the word end in Exodus 23:16 is #3318, the Hebrew word yatsa, yaw-tsaw’; a primitive root; to go (causative bring) out, in a great variety of applications, lit. and fig. The following are the English definitions of the italics words go, bring and out as defined in Webster’s dictionary: go = to leave; depart; to come to an end. bring = to carry or lead; to cause to happen. out = away or forth from a place, position, etc. The definitions of the word end in this verse means to go out, to come to an end. The major food harvests of the year of what was sown in the field has come to an end. This verse is bringing to an end, the food harvests of the year which is completing a cycle of events as in a revolution of time.
In 2 Chronicles 24:23, the word end (#8622, tequphah) is used the second time. 23 “And it came to pass at the end (#8622) of the year (#8141), that the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.” In this verse the end of the year is not mentioned as the time when you have gathered in your labours out of the field or the time of the Feast of Tabernacles at the year’s end. This end of the year is referring to the end of the earth’s orbit or revolution, i.e. (of the sun) course. To help get a better understanding of this verse, let’s read 2 Samuel 11:1, “And it came to pass, after the year (#8141) was expired (#8666), at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rab-bah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.” 2 Samuel 11:1 is referring to the return (#8666) of the year (a new solar or tropical year) after the (old) year expired (#8666) at the time when kings go forth to battle. The words return and expired are both #8666, a recurrence (of time or place.) recurrence = [Webster’s] to occur again or at intervals. (1 Kings 20:22, 26 also speak about “at the return (#8666) of the year when kings go to battle.”) Usually the time when kings go forth to battle is after the winter has come to an end and a new year has begun. This is what 2 Chronicles 24:23 is describing. Note: This verse is not speaking of an equinox.
In these four verses where the word tequphah is used, they are not speaking about the Latin definition of equinox, “the time of equal days and nights.” I am aware that Jay P. Green’s Interlinear Bible translates the word “end” in Exodus 34:22 as “turn.” Many of us have used this word “turn” to mean an equinox at the equator which is devised and determined by man at the time when the middle of the sun crosses man’s devised imaginary equator from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere. We thought this was the beginning of the new solar or tropical year. We were wrong; we were following the traditions and commandments of men.
The word year’s in Exodus 34:22 and the word year in Exodus 23:16 and 2 Chronicles 24:23 are Strong’s #8141, shanah, shaw-naw’; a year (as a revolution of time): -- year, yearly. One of the definitions of year in Webster’s New World Dictionary is: “The period of (365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds) of one revolution of the earth around the sun: also solar year.” So a solar year is a revolution of time, the time it takes the earth to complete its orbit around the sun. This is also the same year (#8141) in Genesis 1:14, that the sun and moon rules over and signals to begin on the date of 12 hours of day and night in March at Jerusalem, Israel location. What are some of the things we can determine from the date of the beginning of the solar year? (#1) Counting from the date that the sun and moon divides the day and night 12 hours in length in March until the date the sun and moon divides day and night 12 hours in length in the following March at Jerusalem, Israel location, this solar year will have 12 or 13 dark new moons in it, and 365 or 366 days. (#2) If the March dark new moon date before the date of the new solar year appoints Passover to occur on or after the date of the new solar year, the “appointed times, set feasts” for God’s feasts are set for the festival year. If it appoints Passover to occur before the date of the new solar year, the following dark new moon date is the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you, (Exodus 12:2). Note: This prevents two Passovers from occurring in one solar year. Psalms 104:19, “He (God) appointed the moon for seasons,” (4150, appointed times, set feasts). So, the green barley will be ready for the symbolic wave sheaf offering during the Days of Unleavened Bread.
Someone may ask, what is the difference in using the sun and moon’s 12 hour day and night date that occur on March 16th or 17th at Jerusalem, Israel location and man’s determined universal equinox date which usually occur about March 20th or 21st at the imaginary equator? By using man’s equinox dates at the equator, the appointed feasts of God can be delayed one month in the years when the dark new moon near the date of the 12 hour day and 12 hour night at Jerusalem appoints Passover to occur on the dates between the 15th and 20th day of March. This will occur in the year 2011, when the Passover date will start on March 17th. The next year will be 2019, when Passover starts on March 19th. In year 2027, the Passover will be on March 20, the same date Passover was observed in year 2008. Because man’s equinox date at man’s devised equator will be on March 21st for Jerusalem, Israel location in year 2027, this will delay the feasts of the Lord one month if man’s equinox date at the equator is used for the beginning of the solar or tropical year. This means in these years, and other identical years later, the Lord’s feasts will start in the second and eighth months if man’s determined equinox dates at the equator is used. The Feast of Tabernacles in these years will start on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like King Jeroboam’s devised (908, to invent) Feast of Tabernacles, (Read 1 Kings 12:32-33).
The feast of tabernacles occurs near the time of the year’s end major food harvests of what was sown in the field, Exodus 23:16; 34:22; Deut. 16:13. It is the yearly food harvest cycle that has come to an end. These verses are bringing to an end, the food harvest cycle of the year which complete a cycle of events as in a revolution of time. This is what the year’s end (#8622, tequphah) in Exodus 34:22 is referring to instead of the “turn” of the sun crossing man’s devised equator from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere.
ORIGIN OF THE EQUATOR AND EQUINOX
The earliest equator origin date I have found is 1350-1400. It was recorded in Medieval Latin, aequator, equalizer (of day and night, as when the sun crosses the equator). The earliest date for the origin of the word equinox is also 1350-1400, it is the Medieval Latin word equinoxium, for Latin aequinoctium the time of equal days and nights (aequi- EQUI + noct (s. of nox) NIGHT + ium-IUM).
The equator is defined by man as an imaginary invisible line that circles the earth in an east and west direction midway of the earth between the north and south poles. This invisible equator line divides the earth into two hemispheres, the northern and southern hemispheres. The following is a quick summary of what I have found in many articles that defines how an equinox is determined by men at the equator. Let us start with the celestial sphere; it is a large round sphere surrounding the earth. This celestial sphere is an imaginary sphere of gigantic radius with the earth located at its center. The celestial sphere is divided by projecting the imaginary equator on earth into space. This divides the sphere into the northern celestial hemisphere and the southern celestial hemisphere. The imaginary celestial poles of the celestial sphere are aligned with the poles of the earth. The imaginary ecliptic is the sun’s apparent annual path in the celestial sphere as the earth rotates on its axis.
Astronomers (man) use the imaginary celestial sphere, the imaginary celestial equator, the imaginary ecliptic, and a point in a constellation in heaven originally called Aries to determine a universal date, hour and minute of the equinox at the time when the middle of the sun is crossing the invisible imaginary equator as the earth is rotating on its axis. This man devised universal equinox is for all locations on earth. Do you understand now why, God gave the sun and moon rule and dominion to divide light and darkness in the heavens?
Astronomers admit that day and night are not even equal at the equator. A quote from the U.S. Naval Observatory article titled “Length of Day and Night at the Equinoxes.” Quoting the first paragraph: “Day and night are not exactly of equal length at the time of the March and September equinoxes. The dates on which day and night are each 12 hours occur a few days before and after the equinoxes. The specific dates of this occurrence are different for different latitudes.” Unquote.
The dates on which day and night are 12 hours when divided by the sun and moon usually occur several days before man’s equinox that man has determined at the equator in March. In September the dates on which day and night are 12 hours when divided by the sun and moon occur several days after man’s determined equinox. This sounds like the equinox at the equator is a mean or astronomical equinox like a mean or astronomical dark new moon, where the date of the new moon is recorded near the middle of the dark new moon phase. At the time of man’s determined equinoxes, the middle of the sun must be over man’s divided imaginary equator. The primary purpose of the time of the equinoxes at the equator is for astronomers to determine the location of stars in the firmament of heaven.
WHAT WAS MAN GIVEN DOMINION OVER?
Genesis 1:26, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion (#7287, to tread down, i.e. subjugate = to bring under control; to make submissive.) over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, (all the wild animals of earth, NKJV.) and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Also read Psalms 8:4-8.)
INTERNATIONAL MERIDIAN CONFERANCE
The International Meridian Conference was held in October 1884 in Washington, D.C. in the United States to decide the location for the planet’s Longitude 0 degree from which all other longitudes are measured. Twenty-five nations were represented at this conference. In a vote of twenty-two to one (22-1), Greenwich, England was made the point of The Prime Meridian of the world, soon to be called the Greenwich Meridian. Also, in the same set of meetings, the observatory was voted to house the exact standard time of the world, called the Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT, that brings in each new day, year, etc. Today the most widely used coordinate system is longitude and latitude. The Prime Meridian is 0 degree longitude and the equator is 0 degree latitude. Notice, all of these are devised by man.
The signs of the sun and moon signal the beginning of seasons (new moon or month that determine the Lord’s appointed times, set feasts), days, and years. These questions should be asked: Why should we use man’s devised equinox at man’s divided imaginary equator line to determine the “appointed times, set feasts” of God? Should we follow the signs of the sun and moon or the traditions, and commandments of men? We should use the date of the 12 hours of night and day equinox that is divided by the sun and moon in March at Jerusalem, Israel location to determine the beginning of the solar year, not the day, hour and minute of man’s devised equinox at man’s imaginary equator. The sun and moon were created to divide the day from the night and to rule, have dominion over the day and night. Man was given dominion over the animals of the seas and earth.
CONCLUSION:
After proving (1 Thessalonians 5:21) that the verses where the Hebrew word tequphah is used does not mean equinox “equal days and nights” and proving that God gave the sun and moon authority to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness in Genesis 1:18. Also by proving that God did not give man dominion to determine the beginning of the new solar or tropical year at man devised equator, I now believe we must “hold fast that which is good.” We were wrong and must repent and change, we were following the traditions and commandments of men, not the scriptures. The apostle Paul warned us about the traditions of men in Colossians 2:8. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”
The purpose of the sun and moon that God created in the firmament of heaven was to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs that signal the beginning for seasons, (#4150, set feast, appointed times) for days and years. And let them give light upon the earth and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from darkness. If we want to observe the Lord’s feasts at the correct seasons (appointed times, set feasts), I suggest we use the 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night date that the sun and moon divided in March at Jerusalem, Israel location to determine the beginning of the solar years, as they were created to do.
Updated 12-15-10, Art Ryan