“From the days of Ezra and Nehemiah to the present time, a long series of historical and astronomical source materials now offer a complete picture of the new moon and her phases. Every detail of her performance is described either on tablets, stone, or parchment, or in books of ancient and modern astronomy. Thus has the way been prepared for effective chronological study with reference to Jewish luni-solar time, and its bearing upon the death-year of Christ.” Grace Amadon, Research Committee of S.D.A. Church, 1938

“He shall insult the Most High, he shall torment/wear out the holy ones of the Most High and he shall attempt to change the calendar and the ordinance” Daniel 7:25 (John Knox? translation.)

“Under the reign of Constantius (337-362) the persecutions of the Jews reached such a height that . . . the computation of the calendar [was] forbidden under pain of severe punishment” (excerpts from The Jewish Encyclopedia, “Calendar.”)

“Sabbath and New Moon (Rosh Hodesh), both periodically recurring in the course of the year. The New Moon is still, and the Sabbath originally was, dependent upon the lunar cycle” (Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, 410.)

“Neither was it lawful for a man to keep sabbath days or ancient fasts, or to profess himself at all to be a Jew.” 2 Macabees 6:6

Historical Evidence

“The Israelites . . . made the Sabbath the feasts of a living and holy God. The work of man became symbolic of the work of God, and human rest of divine rest, so that the Sabbaths became preeminently days of rest. Since, moreover, the LUNAR MONTH had 29 or 30 days, the normal lapse of time between Sabbaths was six days, although sometimes seven or eight; and six working days were accordingly assigned to the creation, which was to furnish a prototype for human life. The connection of the Sabbath with lunar phases, however, was [later] discarded by the Israelites . . . .” (The New Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia, 135-136.)

And the times of this ignorance God winked at. . . . Acts 17:30

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. . . . . . “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” . . . . . . Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Heb 4:1, 7, 11-13

These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Acts 17:10-11

{see Gregorian Calendar April A.D. 31}

“The Millerites were clear . . . that the first day of the new month always followed the moon’s first appearance, and did not precede it.” Grace Amadon, 1939

The days of the Hebrew month were numbered from 1 to 29 or 30. New Moon day is called day 1 (this is the first day of the month, but not the first day of the work week); the first Sabbath is the 8th day of the month and 7th day of the week; the second Sabbath is day 15; the third Sabbath is day 22; and the last Sabbath is day 29. This is how every month of every year looks since it was put in place at creation. The only exception is half the months of each year have 29 days and half have 30.

{see LuniSolar Calendar Nisan AD 31}

{Calendar-Gregorian-2}

Dan 9:24-27 “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city . . . Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks . . . And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off . . . he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.”

Great Controversy 327: “In the autumn of A.D. 27 Christ was baptized by John . . .”In the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” In A.D. 31, three and a half years after His baptism, our Lord was crucified.”

Lev 23:5 “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord?s passover.”

Lev. 23:9 “When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, on the morrow after the Sabbath.” (This was always in the spring just as the barley was ready to be harvested.)

Great Controversy 327: “In the autumn of A.D. 27 Christ was baptized. . . . . In A.D. 31, three and a half years after His baptism, our Lord was crucified.” (Thus making this the spring of the Year)

See also Acts 10:38 and Mark 1:14, 15.

Deut. 16:1 “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.”

Great Controversy 399: “On the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month, the very day and month on which for fifteen long centuries the Passover lamb had been slain. . . .”

Also see E. G. White: Great Controversy 399 and Patriarchs and Prophets 486. Ex. 23:15.

Lev 23:5 “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord?s Passover.”

Great Controversy 399: “On the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month, the very day and month on which for fifteen long centuries the Passover lamb had been slain. . . .”

Also see E. G. White: Great Controversy 399 and Patriarchs and Prophets 486.

John 19:31 “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was a high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.”

Matt. 28:1 “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.” (This is a process
of deduction.)

Desire of Ages (DA) 794 “On the sixth day of the week they had seen their Master die...”

Also see E. G. White: DA 769-774, 794; Ps.81:3

Matt 27:62 “ Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate saying, „Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, “After three days I will rise.” Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, “He has risen from the dead.” So the last deception will be worse than the first.?”

Mark 15:42-44 Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

DA 774 “At the setting of the sun on the evening of the preparation day the trumpets sounded, signifying that the Sabbath had begun. The Passover was observed as it had been for centuries, while He to whom it pointed had been slain by wicked hands, and lay in Joseph?s tomb. On the Sabbath the courts of the temple were filled with worshipers.

Also see E. G. White: DA 771

7. FULL MOON DAY: (Day following the night of the full moon)

This is a process of deduction as the day of the Full Moon is always 14 days, counting inclusively, from the New Moon day. So, if the New Moon was first seen in the night sky on the night of (Julian calendar’s) April 11th, then the 12th was called New Moon Day. The 12th being day 1, count fourteen days to arrive at the true Passover day. You should have arrived at April 25. (We are only using Julian/Gregorian month names and day numbers for clarification.)

Ps 81:3 “Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, at the full moon, on our solemn feast day. For this is a statute for Israel, a law of the God of Jacob.”

DA 685 “In company with His disciples, the Saviour slowly made His way to the garden of Gethsemane. The Passover moon, broad and full, shone from a cloudless sky. The city of pilgrims? tents was hushed into silence”.

Lev 23:5 “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord?s Passover”.

Great Controversy 399 “The slaying of the Passover lamb was a shadow of the death of Christ. Says Paul: “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” 1 Cor. 5:7. . . . . These types were fulfilled, not only as to the event, but as to the time. On the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month, the very day and month on which for fifteen long centuries the Passover lamb had been slain, Christ, having eaten the Passover with His disciples, instituted that feast which was to commemorate His own death as “the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.”

Also see E. G. White: DA 571, Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 3, 225

Mark 15:25-26 “Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.”

Darkness over all the land between sixth and ninth hour: (12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.)

Matt 27:45-46 “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.”

Mark 15:33-34 “Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.”

“Nature itself was in sympathy with the scene. The sun shone clearly until midday, when suddenly it seemed to be blotted out. All about the cross was darkness as deep as the blackest midnight. This supernatural darkness lasted fully three hours”. Jesus – The Final Hours by E. G. White

Matt 27:46-55 “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, „Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?? that is, „My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me??”

E. G. White: “At the ninth hour the darkness lifted from the people, but still wrapped the Savior as with a mantle. The lightning seemed to be hurled at Him as He hung upon the cross . . . A light encircled the cross, and the face of the Savior shone with a glory like the sun. He then bowed His head upon His breast and died.” (Jesus – The Final Hours)

10. FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD COMMENCES (Seven day Feast)

Ex 12:18 “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel. . . .”

Matt 28:1-2 “Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.”

John 19:31-32 “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.”

DA 774 “At the setting of the sun on the evening of the preparation day the trumpets sounded, signifying that the Sabbath had begun. The Passover was observed as it had been for centuries, while He to whom it pointed had been slain by wicked hands, and lay in Joseph?s tomb. On the Sabbath the courts of the temple were filled with worshipers.” Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, page 410:

“Sabbath and New Moon (Rosh Hodesh), both periodically recur in the course of the year. The New Moon is still, and the Sabbath originally was, dependent upon the lunar cycle.”

Lev. 23:9 “When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, on the morrow after the Sabbath”.

Mark 16:9 “Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.”

1Cor. 15:20-22 “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.”

Great Controversy 399 “The sheaf of first fruits, which at the time of the Passover was waved before the Lord, was typical of the resurrection of Christ”.