Rosh Hashanah – Yahuah’s New Year’s Day in Spring
Rosh Hashanah
Yahuah’s New Year’s Day in Spring
Rosh Hashanah has been celebrated by the Yahudim (Jews) for nearly 1,700 years as New Year’s Day in autumn, coinciding with Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets. Yet, no matter how long this erroneous tradition has been honored, it is time to restore Rosh Hashanah to YHUH (Yahuah) Alahim’s true and original New Year’s Day in SPRING. Rosh Hashanah is first represented by the words “IN THE BEGINNING” in Genesis 1:1 and later defined by Yahuah to Moses and Aaron by night, fourteen days prior to the first PASSOVER, as recorded in Exodus 12:3.
With the addition of Genesis 1:16, we discover that the lesser light (the moon) was ordained to rule together with the stars by night, identifying the full moon as the original start of lunar months, as it alone rules by night with the stars from east to west all night long. So, together with the stars, the first full moon in the spring announces ROSH HASHANAH. The Creator’s appointed beginning of lunar months can only be signaled by the full New/Renewed Moon near the feet of the constellation of Bethulah (Virgo), which rises in the east by night in the spring alone, as the Rosh (first) constellation of the year, and sets the count to PASSOVER (Pasch) and all the full New Moon Days, lunar Sabbaths, and lunar appointed Feast Days.
Without first locating the correct starry constellation that rises in the east in spring and the original ordained full New/Renewed New Moon to rule together by night to announce the Kodesh (sacred) year, all lunar Sabbaths, and lunar appointed Feast days will be hopelessly out of sync with the imperial worship rhythm of our Creator, Yahuah Alahim.
Rosh Hashanah Set in Stone
In Shemot (Exodus) 12:1-3, it was YAHUAH who proclaimed to Moses that the Feast of Passover was to be counted from Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the first lunar month of the year in spring. After all, this is just as it had always been since that first day “IN THE BEGINNING.” Passover, counted fourteen days later, forever ties Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s Day) to the spring of the year and not to the fall. This was first expressed by the Eternal Father YAHUAH fourteen days prior to the first Passover and exodus from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 12:1-3) and alluded to in ViYAkra (Leviticus) 23:5.
Each of the following uses of the term “rosh” utilizes different prefixes and suffixes. For many years, we were taught that these represent different and separate words through the use of the Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary numbering system, and the illegitimate vowel points as utilized by the Masoretic text. But in reality, it is simply the word “rosh” (H7218 – first, head, beginning) with prefixes such as (in, the) and suffixes that don’t appear to be extremely valuable, such as (diminutive, sometimes feminine, or diminutive, sometimes masculine).
“IN THE BEGINNING (H7218 – בראשׁית – Rosh – first, head, beginning) Alahim created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
“And declared YAHUAH unto Moses and Aaron, while in the land of Egypt, commanding that: ‘The New Moon (H2320 – chodesh), ‘THIS ONE’, is THE BEGINNING (H7218 – ראשׁ – Rosh – first, head, beginning) of the lunar months (H2320 – chodesh). It is FIRST IN ORDER (H7218 – ראשׁ – Rosh – first, head, beginning) according to the lunar months (H2320 – chodesh) for the revolution of a YEAR (H8141 – השׁנה – HASHANAH).’ You shall keep and teach this to all the congregation of Yasharal (Israel), saying, “in the tenth of the lunar month, do the following: And you shall reserve and keep every man a lamb for each household of the father, a lamb for each house.” Shemot (Exodus) 12:1-3 The Creator’s Calendar Interlinear Restored Text(Link)
“In the lunar month(H2320 – בחדשׁ), the BEGINNING (H7218 –ראשׁ – Rosh – first, head, beginning), the fourteenth (H702 – בארבעה) (H6240 – עשׂר) of the lunar month ( H2320 – בחדשׁ) between (H996 – בין) the evenings (H6153 – הערבים), is the Passover (H6453 – פסח) of Yahuah (H3069 – ליהוה).” Leviticus (Viyakra) 23:5
“Observe the NEW MOON (H2320 – chodesh) of ABIB (H24 – אביב -green ears of gran or corn, [spring]), and keep the Passover unto YAHUAH your Alahim (God): for in the lunar month (H2320 – chodesh) of Abib (H24 – אביב -green ears of gran or corn, [spring]) YAHUAH your Alahim brought you forth out of Egypt by night.” Deuteronomy 16:1
“And IN THE BEGINNING (H7218 – ראשׁ – Rosh – first, head, beginning) of your lunar months (H2320 – chodesh) you shall present a burnt offering to the Yahuah: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish; three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, for each bull . . .” Numbers 28:11 NKJV
“Thus says Yahuah Alahim, ‘IN THE BEGINNING (H7218 – ראשׁ – Rosh – first, head, beginning), in the first day of the lunar month (H2320 – chodesh), you shall take a young bull without blemish and cleanse the sanctuary.'” Ezekiel 45:18
Not only does the Torah (first five books of the O.T.) identify the importance of ROSH HASHANAH as the CHIEF NEW MOON and the first day of the first lunar month of the year, but this is also echoed in the Brit Hadasha (N.T.) in Revelation 12:1 as the GREAT SIGN in the heavens.
“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the [G4582 – selene – brilliant] moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.” Revelation 12:1
Here, it is seen that the woman refers to the constellation Bethulah (Virgo). She rises on the eastern horizon in spring by night, along with the full, brilliant (G4582 Selene) moon. This clarification in Revelation destroys two long-held myths crafted in ancient Babylon and later adopted by the Yahudim during their captivity in Egypt, Babylon, and Rome. The first myth is that the year begins in the fall, and the second is that the New Moon is the dark moon. Both of these were crafted in ancient Babylon to be 180 degrees opposite of the Creator’s design.
What Revelation 12:1 reveals is that it is referring to the constellation Bethulah (Virgo), which rises visibly in the east by night only in the spring. Additionally, she is depicted with the “brilliant Selene moon” at her feet. This meets the criteria of the four Scripture Witnesses, which define the full New Moon as ordained to rule together with the stars by night only. This means they rise in the east at the same time and rule together along the east-west time continuum only by night, without the presence of the sun.
This eliminates the dark lunar phase as it never rules the night for the mere reason it is in conjunction (alignment) with the sun by day only. The crescent only becomes visible on the western horizon for an hour or so, neither rising in the east nor ruling all night with the stars. The crescent moon and Bethulah can be seen together in the fall when she is upside down and diving into the western horizon, yet her head and the starry crown will not be visible at sunset. While the crescent can be at her feet, it will never be the brilliant Selene moon at her feet in the fall. That only occurs in the spring.
Refer to the article Uncovered: Lunar Secrets of Ancient Babylon.
Yasharal’s First Test of Faithfulness
Returning to the original full New Moon after living under the Egyptian dark New Moon for all those years in bondage was Yasharal’s (Israel’s) first test of obedience. If faithful, they would not lose their firstborn males at midnight on the 14th of that very first lunar month of the year, along with the Egyptians. For if they had not obeyed Yahuah, nor listened to Moses and Aaron, and reoriented their TIME-MEASURING to the visible full moon rising in the east by night in preparation for Passover, there would have been a massive death toll of firstborn Hebrew males in Goshen, in addition to the Egyptians.
The New Year’s Day Sacrifice
The prophets Moses and Ezekiel record the only two times in Scripture that detail the sacrifice schedule for the Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s Day) sacrifice.
This verse identifies the first day of every month, which includes the first month of the year.
“And IN THE BEGINNING (H7218 – ראשׁ – Rosh – first, head, beginning) of your lunar months (H2320 – chodesh) you shall present a burnt offering to the Yahuah: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish; three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, for each bull . . .” Numbers 28:11 NKJV
This verse identifies the first day of the first month:
“Thus says Yahuah Alahim, ‘IN THE BEGINNING (H7218 – בראשׁית – Rosh – first, head, beginning), in the first lunar month (H2320 – chodesh), you shall take a young bull without blemish and cleanse the sanctuary.'” Ezekiel 45:18
The number of the sacrifices underscores the profound significance attributed to that holy day. Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s Day) was set apart as the inaugural marker of the Creator’s annual lunar cycle, thereby establishing the framework for each of the following New Moon Days, every ordinary workday, lunar seventh‑day Sabbaths, and lunar appointed Feast Days throughout the year.
The detailed sacrificial prescriptions recorded in Leviticus 23 and Numbers 28–29 function as what might be termed our Creator’s “Rules of Engagement.” In this light, the sacrificial calendar is established as the MASTER KEY of TIME and PROPHECY. As the Master Key, it unlocks both the measure of sacred time and the unfolding of prophecy by revealing the precise pattern of years, months, weeks, and days within the lunar‑appointed system upon which the Plan of Salvation is fulfilled.
This unique lunar-designated arrangement attaches sacredness only to specific lunar-appointed times, yearly, monthly, and weekly. As a result, any day honored as sacred on a solar pagan calendar with weeks that cycle outside the boundaries of New Moon Days and New Year’s Days, will never carry any value by Yahuah Alahim, nor will He be present in them. So what does this mean?
It means that all the days of the week (Sunday through Saturday), as well as holidays established by Roman Papal decrees, such as New Year’s Day in the winter, Easter, and Christmas, are considered illegitimate worship days and carry no degree of sacredness. Not only are these not mentioned by name in Scripture, but they are also found only according to a pagan solar time-measuring rhythm and not that of the Creator.
Only He who is Himself Holy can institute the parameters for what is Holy. He ordained all His Holy, sacred, and set-apart events to be marked by lunar time, and they alone tell Salvation’s story of redemption as performed by our loving and merciful Messiah.
The Turn of the Year is Recorded in Scripture
When discussing Rosh Hashanah in 2015 with Sarah Davolt, my Professor of Hebrew at the University of Jerusalem, she said, “It is clear that the Yahudim (Jews) changed the day of the Feast of Rosh Hashanah from its original placement in spring to the autumn turn of the year (tekufah H#8622). A fact revealed by Exodus 12:1-7, which identifies that Rosh Hashanah was originally ordained by Yahuah Alahim (“Adoni” in her words) to be celebrated in spring, 14 days before Pasch (Passover), as the first of the two “turn of the year” (tekufah H#8622) annual events.
Even as a Yahudah (Jew) herself, Sara Davolt was able to recognize the discrepancy and define it as such. Yet, the majority of the Rabbinical Pharisee Jews as a nation continue in their traditions, following the calendar and Feast Day changes made long ago by their corrupt ancestors.
The following brief Hebrew word study on Exodus 12:1-3 illustrates that Rosh Hashanah refers to the first day of the first month of the year, which is the first lunar month. I believe this is Scripture’s way of defining that the first full moon in spring is the “Rosh (first) of the Shanah (year).” The full moon will also consistently occur in the constellation of Bethulah (Virgo), between her waist and her feet.
Scripture refers to the “turn of the year” (tekufah H#8622) as a twice-a-year event.
What About the Pharisaical Two-Day New Moon Question?
It is primarily the modern Yahudim (Jews), also known as the Rabbinical Pharisees, and those who observe a dark conjunction lunar phase as the New Moon, who have come to believe that when two dark phases occur consecutively, this signifies a two-day New Moon. They then utilize the story presented in 1 Shemu’el (Samuel 20:1-42) as evidence. Yet, the very fact that the term “New Moon Day” denotes “day one” of any given lunar month, including New Year’s Day, prohibits the existence of any system that incorporates two first days in a row of 48 hours for a single day. It is simply impossible for two firsts of the same event to occur back-to-back in time. Such a belief actually undermines the very fabric of common math and TIME and falls into the category of pure fiction. But putting this aside for the moment, what does 1 Shemu’el (Samuel) 20:1-42 actually have to say about a two-day New Moon?
So, where did the two-day New Moon tradition come from?
“…Rabbis in the academies of Babylonia declared that because of uncertainty of the calendar, Rosh Hashana should be celebrated as a two-day holiday… Since the Bible specified that Rosh Hashana should be a one-day holiday [kadosh sacred day], the Rabbis had to justify the change of a two-day holiday. This was done by means of a legal-fiction: they began referring to the two days of Rosh Hashana as “Yoma Arichta,” meaning “one long day of forty-eight hours.” This is the Torah, p. 315, 386.
- Note in the quote above, it refers to the Rabbis in the academies of Babylon, who were not seeking faithfulness to Yahuah, the Most High.
- They ignored Scriptures and justified a two-day Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s Day).
- The Rabbi’s created an altogether new teaching called “Yom Archta,” meaning one long day of forty-eight hours, not supported in Scripture.
- They moved Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s Day) to “Tishri,” Babylon’s first month, which corresponds to the Scripture’s seventh month.
- This is just one evidence of the level of which the Rabbinical Pharisees have rearranged time after hardening their hearts against Yahusha haMashaich, they rose to power in the wake of the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70. Refer to the article, Tomorrow is the New Moon.
Test of Obedience
Diverging for a moment. . . Let it not be lost on your mind that all firstborn males in both camps (Israel and Egypt) would have died in the middle of the month during the conjunction lunar phase if they were not obedient. The first requirement was to reorient to the authentic full moon as the New Moon. Then they were to count 14 days to Passover to sacrifice their lamb. Restoring the New Moon was the first priority of Moses, Aaron, and all those who were counted as faithful.
Only the full moon is the visible lunar phase in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Only the full moon rules all night together with the stars, and not simply 30 minutes to 1.5 hours of the night. Only the full moon enters at the EAST GATE and continues along the east-west time continuum for one night only. For comprehensive evidence that the full moon is the Creator’s original start of His lunar months, refer to The Treasury of Evidence for the Full New Moon.
This places PASSOVER fourteen days later than is popularly taught and forever on the dark conjunction lunar phase, the only day of a 29-day month in which it is possible for the sun to be “darkened from the sixth to the ninth hour” in a three-hour solar eclipse (Luke 23:44-45). For in doing so, the TIME-CENTRIC PASSOVER PROMISE of the LAMB slain for all who believe and obey was forever cemented as a “nail in a sure place.” It marked the annual rehearsal and prophecy of the precisely appointed time that the true PASSOVER LAMB, Yahusha the Messiah, would lay down His life for sinners approximately 1,500 years later.
Although you may have never heard about this reorientation of the calendar, as displayed two weeks before the first Passover, it was the pivotal point upon which achieving the correct day hinged. It required Israel’s first act of obedience to Yahuah in this regard, to align and reorient their calendar to Him, in opposition to that of the Egyptians. The calendar restoration was the kingpin that determined who lived and who died. All the other Passover details were hinged on getting the CALENDAR right! Correct TIME-MEASURING was their ultimate test, just as it will be for all those seeking an ETERNAL HOME at the end of time.
This story prefigures what happens to each man and woman who has ever lived. We can go our own way and die the eternal death for ourselves as a consequence of sin. Or we can, by faith, let the Promised LAMB, Yahusha, the anointed Messiah, die in our place. These are the only two choices we have. Strikingly, these two choices are each eternally pinned to opposing calendar models, some with erroneous New Moons with their corresponding count to a 14th day that misses the mark, and others with no New Moons at all. And without our conscious obedience to the preordained standard, we can easily become no more than dust in the wind.
History reveals that Egypt utilized the dark conjunction lunar phase as its New Moon. So, when Yahuah called to task Moses and Aaron to look up and see “THIS ONE” and reorient to this visible CHIEF NEW MOON event of ROSH HASHANAH in spring, they knew exactly what this meant. Do you? It meant they had to adjust their paradigms and reorient their calendar to align with that of their creator, Yahuah Alahim, and His ordained Full New/Renewed Moon in opposition to their Egyptian captors.
Yahuah, the Most High’s Time Model
Thus, the full moon, as the New/Renewed Moon (or the start of lunar months), becomes the reference point for counting all the sacred and set-apart Feast Days. Each in its turn is tied in some respect to Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the first lunar month of the year in spring, and not autumn. This is identified by the three-part harmony of the sun ruling alone by day and the moon ruling together with the stars by night.
Who knew that the description of the position of the moon ruling the night sky with the stars identified the lunar phase of the New Moon? So few comprehend that the position of the moon relative to the sun, earth, and stars identifies which lunar phase is the ruling lesser light. Genesis 1:16.
United, they measure years, months, weeks, and place each Sabbath and Feast Day within the lunar month, and demarcate each calendar date. The image below illustrates the only lunar phase option that was also prefigured in Genesis, illustrating that the full moon rules the whole night together with the stars. Refer to the Word Study, The Ruling New Moon Announced in Genesis 1:16.
At this point, you may be questioning the reality of the full moon as the true New Moon, not because it is not taught in Scripture, but because it does not align with your time-honored tradition. This article provides only a brief glimpse of the comprehensive support material on this subject. So, for more on defining the true New Moon, I refer you to The Treasury of Evidence for the Full New Moon.
Lunar Months, New Moon Days, First Day of the Month
In Scripture, every time the word month (Chodesh #2320 חדש) is stated (349 times), it literally means one of three things: 1) lunar month; 2) the first day of the lunar month; 3) or New Moon Day. This is not an isolated view, as it is supported by Strong’s Concordance, Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Lexicon, the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, and many other Hebrew Dictionaries. Refer to the article 349 New Moon Occurrences in Scripture.
When the Truth is Buried
It is only as the truth is not taught or displayed correctly in our modern Bibles, and that our modern calendar has been based wholly upon the sun since A.D. 325, and pressured upon the Yahudim (Jews) in A.D. 358, that we have ALL assumed that the years, months, and weeks of Scripture were in sync with our modern Roman calendar and its weeks that cycle without end.
However, upon examining Scripture closely, we uncover a significant conflict with the Roman calendar. Indeed, the entire calendar of Scripture is based on lunar-astro-solar months that commence with the full New Moon, marking a specific constellation each lunar month by night, which in turn announces the new month to begin the following morning at sunrise.
Although many have attempted to detach the significance of the New Moon Day from the term H2320, chodesh, such a separation is neither linguistically nor conceptually sustainable. The relationship between the beginning of the month and the month itself is intrinsic, not incidental. Removing the New Moon from chodesh is akin to attempting to eliminate the end of a rope by cutting it; the action only shortens the rope, yet it inevitably retains both a beginning and an end. In the same way, a month, by its very nature, must possess a defined commencement and conclusion, its first and its last. Thus, the New Moon remains inseparably bound to the meaning of chodesh, reflecting the enduring principle of the Aleph and the Tav, the beginning and the end.
Whose Calendar Is it Anyway?
The Creator’s celestial Calendar model had its origins in eternity’s past. Exodus 20:10 declares, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of Yahuah your Alahim/Elohim.” Meaning that our Creator shared “His Sabbath” of eternity past, present, and future with humankind. He did this so that earthlings may be in sync with the worship rhythms that had pre-existed earth, together with its messengers (angels) and any other possible unfallen worlds as they assemble on His pre-appointed sacred days. But in addition to Yahuah sharing His Sabbaths with humanity, He also imputed to earth the rhythm of worship as defined by His sacred timepiece with its lunar months and astro-luni-solar years via shamayim’s (heaven’s) own New Moon time indicator. For more details on this subject, refer to the article, The Fourth Day of Creation.
Contrary to popular opinion, the seventh-day Sabbath cannot be attributed solely to the Hebrews, for its origins on earth date back to the first pages of Genesis, long before there was a Hebrew people. The New Moons and lunar appointed Feast days, together with the Sabbath, became the ordained process and layout of the Plan of Salvation. This is the legacy of the work of our Messiah unto Salvation and honored above all by His faithful and obedient followers unto His RETURN.
LUNAR TIME remains the signature of both our Creator and Redeemer. What began at Creation as His method of synchronizing worship has been consistently utilized by Adam through Noah, then later by Abraham, Moses, David, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and through to the Messiah, and all the successive obedient followers of YAHUAH as a sign of faithfulness.
After the flood, this time-measuring model and worship synchronizer was usurped first by the ancient Babylonians, then by the Egyptians, and thousands of years later by the Romans. It was through the influence of all three of these that the Roman Gregorian solar time model has shaped the unsuspecting world and infiltrated long-held Jewish and Christian traditions for the last 1,700 years.
The Take Away
There are three major points to take away from this article:
1) It greatly mattered to YAHUAH Alahim that Yasharal (Israel) be re-established to the CORRECT CALENDAR MODEL to establish the correct count to their first PASSOVER and restoration to the Promised Land.
2) It is only in utilizing the correct New Moon that mankind can identify that indeed their Messiah was the Passover Lamb who died on Passover, the 14th day counted from the first full New Moon of Rosh Hashanah, during a dark conjunction lunar phase, highlighted by an extremely lengthy three-hour solar eclipse.
3) And because Yasharal’s (Israel’s) experience was given in types and shadows, it is reflective of the experience of YAHUAH’S faithful people (Yasharal) unto the end of time. For we must also be restored to observing His correct New Moon for worship synchronization that we too may accurately keep sacred His New Moon Days, lunar Sabbaths, and lunar appointed Feast Days. This is His method of separating the sheep from the goats and the wheat from the chaff. For it demonstrates His obedient people who will be true to Him alone, and not be beguiled by the peer pressure of the solar calendar, or the dark conjunction/crescent majority.
It is only by endeavoring to utilize the original Creator’s Calendar that we can expect to locate Yahuah’s authentic set-apart prophetic Feast Days today. It is all about restoring His TIME-MEASURING principles so that we may be synchronized to His set-apart Sabbaths and Kadosh worship assemblies, Yearly, monthly, and weekly, for it is our part of the Bridal Covenant.
I’ve been wrong before, and no doubt will be again, but this is not one of them. The focus of this study is on uncovering the truth at its core and foundation, rather than merely accepting every popular, spurious tradition and belief system passed down through the ages. There is not a bone in my body that seeks to be different for difference’s sake. As with most people, we have a built-in code that causes us to seek unity rather than division or difference, so finding ourselves outside the norms of modern society can only be attributed to our deep need to follow the way, the truth, and the life of our Messiah.
If we are searching for more than what this world and its systems can ever supply, longing for lasting love, true joy, and abiding peace grounded in eternal TRUTH, we will discover it only within the Kingdom of Yahuah and His Son. Their divine, time-centered Plan of Salvation is faithfully signaled each year by the full moon of Rosh Hashanah, shining as a heavenly beacon that calls us to align our lives with their eternal purposes. HalleluYAH !!!
by Kerrie French
TheCreatorsCalendar.com