Volume 2 Issue 1 Think Red Ink Inside this issue: What did Jesus say? On The Calendar of Jehovah Doing it the Yah-Way 2-6, 14 Mailbag 8,9 Puzzle Time 13 Contact Us 16 How is it that ye can discern the face of the sky but ye cannot discern the signs of the time? What time is it anyway? W hen the Creator finished the earth, it brought forth its first fruit....the DAY. The first day was created on the seventh day of creation and the Sabbath completed the creation. This seven-day week continues to be the measurement of time today. Try as you might, you will not be able to find a historical rationale for doing this. There is no reason to measure a week in this arbitrary fashion other than the record of Scripture. Unfortunately, the week is about the only part of His calendar that DOES remain. As children of Jehovah, we should make ourselves familiar with His calendar. He has left us with the Scriptures to calculate and identify His moedim. (His appointed times, seasons.) If they were not important, or had been left to the discretion or arbitrary alteration of man, He would not have so clearly outlined their demarcation. In His Holy Scriptures, He told us when a day begins - when a day ends - when the months start and end, and when the beginning of a year is to be marked. It would be pure conjecture - to the point of fantasy - to even consider knowing the correct time of His return, the order and occurrence of end time events, or the appearance of antichrist, while ignoring the calendar that He so clearly delineated in the Bible. Yet, what end time prophesy preacher do you know that who uses the Biblical calendar? Happy New Year? During the days of Y2K, almost every preacher was touting the end has come. Respected men of renown were sure that the Lord would return. But, it should be interesting to note that the end of OUR century did not end Jehovah s century. December 31, 1999, at 12:00 midnight, did not end a week, a month or even a day on His calendar. Still, many waited for the world to collapse. We must have an understanding of the calendar by which the Creator lives and works. It is possible to understand. but, we must read the Scriptures in order to do so. Although nearly everyone on earth is familiar with the decimal system, a couple of months ago, they all celebrated the end of one year and the beginning of another. What has one to do with the other? Well, some basic questions about our calendar do not add up. Anyone familiar with the decimal sys- (Continued on page 12)
Page 2 On The Calendar of Jehovah Volume 2 Issue 1 The Calendar: Doing it the Yah-way! Are there two commandments contained in Deuteronomy 16:1? First, we must make a determination if this is a commandant. If it is not, we can stop here and continue using our man-made calendars. If there are indeed two commandments here, then the question remains, how do we fulfill them? We are pretty familiar with the Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread, but how do we observe the month of Aviv? The Strong's Concordance can help us here. An expanded, Strong s definition of Observe : #8104-2 is: 08104 shamar {shaw-mar'} a primitive root; TWOT* - 2414 The King James Version translated this word as - keep 283 times, observe 46 times, heed 35 times, preserve 21 times and beware 9 times. It also uses words like mark, wait, watch, regard, and save. It becomes obvious that we are to pay attention to, keep, guard, observe, and give heed to the month of Aviv (Hebrew rendition of the KJV word, Abib. This same word, shamar, is used in numerous places that read, shamar the Sabbath Keep the Sabbath. We are indeed commanded "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." Deuteronomy 16:1 to shamar [keep, observe, take heed to, be a keeper of, preserve, be aware of, mark, be a watchman for, wait for, watch for, regard, save] the Sabbath. Why would we think any differently about the month of Aviv? If we are, therefore, to keep the month of Aviv, how will we do it? How will we keep, observe, and watch for the month of Aviv? Actually, the Bible gives us the answer, (Imagine that.) Let s do just a little more word study. Exodus 12:2 says, "This month [the month of Aviv] shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first of the year to you." (What is the first month of the year to you? January, or Aviv? If Aviv is the first month of HIS year, why is it not the first month of OUR year? See page 10 for information on The Creator's Calendar DVD.) This Scripture in Exodus, and other places, uses the word month where the Hebrew word chodesh is found. Again we consult the Strong s: 02320 chodesh {kho'-desh} from 02318; TWOT* In the KJV chodesh is translated as month 254 times, as new moon 20 times and as monthly once. Chodesh is the new moon. This Scripture could have been just as faithfully translated this way: "This new moon shall be unto you the beginning of new moons it shall be the first new moon of the year to you." Okay, so how do we know which new moon is the first month of the year? The month was named Aviv because this month was the month when the barley was aviv. You see, aviv was an agricultural term describing a certain stage of barley ripeness Israel. The Father gives us the barley as an indicator of the time of year to look for the month of Aviv. That month will begin the year. * TWOT stands for Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
Page 3 On The Calendar of Jehovah Volume 2 Issue 1 Also, if we add to our vocabulary the word and definition of aviv, we can read our reference Scripture plainly and understand EXACTLY how to mark the New Year. Back to the Strong s: #24 'abiyb {aw-beeb'} from an unused root (meaning to be tender); TWOT* AV - Abib, in the ear, green ears of corn 1) fresh, young barley ears 2) month of ear-forming, greening of crop, of growing green Aviv Barley With this understanding we see that Deuteronomy 16:1 now reads, "[Watch for] Observe the new moon of the tender barley, for in the month when the barley ears were forming the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night." Aviv is described as the month of barley ear forming, but is that true? Did the Almighty indeed bring out the children of Israel when the ears of barley were tender? Yes, He did. Descriptions of the plague of hail that Moses brought upon the Egyptians during this time, makes the stage of ripeness precise. Exodus 9:31-32 says, "And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, [tender] (ibid. Strong s #24 above) and the flax was bolled. But the wheat and the rie were not smitten: for they were not grown up." We also have the witness of these Scriptures in Exodus: 13:3-5, "And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt This day came ye out in the month [chodesh] Abib [barley ear forming]. And it shall be that thou shalt keep this service in this month [chodesh]." 23:15, "Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month [chodesh] Abib [barley ear forming]; for in it thou camest out from Egypt... 34:18, "The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. as I commanded thee, in the time of the month [chodesh] Abib [barley ear forming]: for in the month [chodesh] Abib [barley ear forming] thou camest out from Egypt." Wow! We have actually recreated the calendar of the Almighty by following the instructions! By this we can know the true times and seasons. If the feast days really are the prophetic time line markers for the last days (and I believe they are), we can
Page 4 On The Calendar of Jehovah Volume 2 Issue 1 know by experience that the Biblical calendar is still in effect and continuing to paint itself across the sky every evening. If we are commanded to observe the chodesh of barley ear forming, we will obviously, need a new moon, for the very word chodesh means new moon. Let s review what we have learned so far. 1) A month [chodesh] is defined as new moon. 2) Aviv means barley ears forming. 3) We have a commandment/instruction to keep, observe, and watch for the month of Aviv to observe the new moon that occurs when the barley ears are forming. Think Red Ink offers a calendar teaching, recorded on DVD, where much more detailed information is presented on Aviv and how it can be determined by the Scriptures. (There are actually four stages of growth in the Hebrew frame of reference recorded in Scriptures.) Be sure to order it. You will see how Jehovah s calendar is revealed and the calendars of man repealed in the Scriptures. Why Aviv? Have you ever wondered why we need a leap year? The world clock is not run on a mathematically exact cycle. If the world clock were as it was in Noah s day (360 days in the year, 30 days in a month) we would not have the problem we have now. It becomes necessary to have a marker in the year to correct our calendar to the cycles and seasons. Because of the recession of the earth s seasons and the subsequent precession of the calendar we must make some calendar corrections. But how? A mathematical calculation? Math can give us the answer but it ignores fulfilling the commandment. It removes the necessity to, Observe the month of Abib. Actually, provision for this precession has already been made and will require you to, Shamar [keep, observe, take heed to, be a keeper of, preserve, be aware of, mark, be a watchman for, wait for, watch for, regard] the month of Aviv. It requires you to exercise diligence in observation and does not require a degree in calculus to perform. Jehovah could have said, When you see the daisies or dandelions bloom then you will know that you are ready to proclaim the first new moon of the year. This would be a marker that would make it impossible to start the year in winter. Why didn t He make it that simple? He did! Barley is not just an agricultural crop in Israel. It is as prevalent and wild as dandelions are here. It grows along the roadside and in the field. Simply replace the words the daisies bloom with aviv barley and you have it. Our definitions of the Hebrew words give us an understanding that conveys the commandment clearly, When you see aviv barley then you will know that you are to proclaim the first new moon of the year. Here you have your commandment and the instructions on how to do it. Exodus 12:2 and Deuteronomy 16:1 combined and defined read, "Watch for the new moon of the tender barley the month of barley ear forming This new moon shall be unto you the beginning of new moons it shall be the first new moon of the year to you." But, I don t have any barley! How will I know when to start the new year? I can t see the new moon, it s too cloudy. What do I do now?
Page 5 On The Calendar of Jehovah Volume 2 Issue 1 These answers are really easier than they sound. How do we know what day it is in our world today? We have an International Date Line on the earth. This line is a geographical, pole to pole line of demarcation. It is understood and accepted that if you are standing east of the line you are in tomorrow (at least as far as all those west of it are concerned), and if you are standing west of it, you are in yesterday for all those standing east of it. (I cannot seem to wrap my mind around the fact that if you walk westward from there until you come to your previous eastern position you somehow went from living in yesterday to tomorrow and all the time you were traveling, it was today.) The point is that we all accept a dateline. The fact is that it must be somewhere. Is there a better place than Jerusalem, the city of the Great King? It is, after all, the Creator s year that we want to discover. It is, after all, His commandment that we are obeying. Jerusalem is the best place on earth for declaring signs, and seasons, and days, and years." (Genesis 1:14) We accept Jerusalem as the marker of years and months. After all,...for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3) The wonderful thing about Jerusalem is that approximately 11.5 new moons per year are visible there due to its climate. Furthermore, barley, as it has for millennia, grows wild there! It is fortunate that Yah did not specify daisies. I don t know how they would fare in the desert climate of Israel. Problems and Solutions: It is the 29 th day of 12 th month (Adar). We saw the chodesh (the new moon) but the barley is not ripened enough to be considered aviv. What do we do? We simply add a month (29 days) and declare the month to be Adar bet (II). Easy, huh? The barley will surely be ripened enough next month and our calendar has been reset to correspond to the earth s precession. It is the 29 th day in any month. The sky is obscured by clouds, smoke, and weather of any kind. It is impossible to see the new moon s crescent. What do we do? We simply add a day and declare the new moon (month) begins tomorrow night. (Whether we can see it then or not.) But, won t you mess up things by arbitrarily adding a day just because you can t see a moon that may or not be there? In the worst case, the error (if there is one) is only a matter of hours and the error can only last 28 days because the sighting of the new moon next month will reset the calendar to the astronomical reality. What if you don t see it next month? Then you carry the present calendar another 29 days. But remember, Jerusalem is not Seattle. It averages 11.5 visible moons per year. Why all this difficulty? Why not use the regular calendar we already have? (Continued on page 6)
Page 6 On The Calendar of Jehovah Volume 2 Issue 1 (Continued from page 5) Or better yet, why not use the accepted Jewish calendar that has been calculated for centuries into the future? The question is, whose calendar do you want to use? If He has laid out simple instructions in the Scriptures, requiring only the physical senses and basic observation skills (looking up) to know exactly what day it is, why would we do it another way? The idea of keeping the calendar of Jehovah is more than just knowing what day it is. It is even more than knowing the timetable upon which the world was scheduled and prophecy is based. It is a way of life for His people. Compliance to the commandment in Deuteronomy 16 naturally forms our lives around a day-by-day, monthby-month communion with our God. More than math and tradition, more than pagan symbolism and man-centered worship, honoring the pure calendar of our Creator makes our lives conform to the admonition of Jesus, Give us day by day our daily bread and Sufficient unto the day and Tomorrow will take thought for the things of itself. The beauty of the commandments we are commissioned to keep is that they facilitate the life we are commissioned to live. The calendar of Jehovah is another way that He communes with us. Just as the setting sun on sixth day evening draws us to Him as Sabbath begins, we are also called into His presence to begin our months and years. If we allow our calendar to be pre-calculated, tampered with, and adjusted to fit the traditions of men, we not only The beauty of the Commandments we are commissioned to keep, is that they facilitate the life we are commissioned to live. sacrifice accuracy, we not only bypass the active keeping of the commandment, we also sacrifice the convocation on new moons and the monthly fellowship that He desires. These days of convocation were the times spoken of by Paul when he said, Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, like some people do. These some people referred to by Paul must have kept the Jewish (Hillel) calendar. After all, if the calendar says that there is a new month, why would anyone watch for the new moon? If we don t watch, we won t collect ourselves on these evenings. We forsake (mind you, not merely forget) the assembling of ourselves together. When talking to those who kept just such a calendar, Jesus said, Verily you break the commandment of God so that you may keep your traditions! Remember, too, that if you want to avoid error, the presentday Hillel (Jewish or Hebrew) calendar is splattered with erroneous calculations, date postponements (not found in Scripture), Scriptural days left off, and dates important to tradition placed there. All of these changes and discrepancies are tolerated solely because of the authority that the Rabbinic councils purportedly carry. Remember that to the average Jew (and many Messianic believers today) a change in Scriptural meaning or arbitrary alteration in commandments is not error - if the errors are declared by the Rabbinic councils to be correct. The Hillel calendar does not only remove the need to observe the chodesh of Aviv, but some calendars remove the need to look out your window to see when the sun sets so you may begin your weekly Sabbaths. The official times are printed plainly on the page. Calculations and clocks have made the calendar a nobrainer, but is that what Jehovah had in mind when He said, Observe the chodesh of new barley ears! The calculated calendar is not even trusted by the Rabbis (Continued on page 11)
Page 7 On The Calendar of Jehovah Volume 2 Issue 1 SHORTWAVE SCHEDULE Sabbath Morning 1:15 AM Central 5.075 MHz Sabbath Evening 6:45 PM Central 3.215 MHz First Day Morning 12:00 PM Central 12.160 MHz First Day Evening 3:00 PM Central 7.465 MHz First Day Evening 11:45 PM Central 5.070 MHz Did you know that you don t need a shortwave radio to hear short-wave? What? Yes, you can listen to WWCR online? Just go to www.wwcr.com and click LISTEN ONLINE There is a schedule of shows, times and frequencies to guide you. WWCR Transmitting Towers
Page 8 On The Calendar of Jehovah Volume 2 Issue 1 The Creator s Calendar...has been revealed in these last days for His people to understand the time of the end. "... for at the time of the end shall be the vision." "... for yet the vision is for many days." Daniel chapter 10 and chapter 8 How can we know the timetable of the last days if we do not understand the calendar by which all things are reckoned? How can we know the days, months and years if the calendar we are use everyday is polluted with paganism. We must know His days, His moedim (appointed times) and His plan for the ages. But how can we know? The Scriptures have plainly outlined His method of marking the time of man on the earth. This exciting teaching provides, in precise detail: The reasons we must have a calendar. The Father s method for correcting the calendar to the precession of equinoxes. How the use of modern calendars subject Jehovah s people to pagan influences. How the influence of false religions on our calendar hides the revelation of Jehovah s past, and future work in the earth. The effect that the unauthorized influence of the Rabbinic system has on our reckoning of time. If you keep the Feasts of the Lord, If you are interested in end time prophesy, you must see this video!
Page 9 On The Calendar of Jehovah Volume 2 Issue 1 February Aviv 1 So, whose calendar do you use? How do we determine when the year begins? What about the origin and meaning of the names and designations of our days and months? Have you ever wondered where the Jewish calendar originated? Is anything wrong with the calendar we use now? Why do the moon s phases neither line up with the months of our calendar NOR the months of the Jewish calendar? This DVD is packed with information. This presentation given at Feast of Tabernacles 6006, where our theme was, Dress Rehearsal for the Days of Deliverance. If you have heard the Second Exodus and The Rapture you need this DVD. Order online at: www.thinkredink.com/products.html Or write to us and we will ship it immediately. Ask for all three studies! Don t let the price you see online fool you As you know, we NEVER charge for our teaching. For freely we have received... Is it possible to find instruction in the Bible to align our thinking to Jehovah s divine calendar? Was the calendar before the flood the same as the days in which we live? WWJD? - Did Jesus keep the appointed Feasts of YHVH according to the Rabbinic calendar? These and many other questions are answered in this great teaching video.
Page 10 On The Calendar of Jehovah Volume 2 Issue 1 The 6007 Calendar is ready for the New Year!...and is available online Now! Okay, so you want to keep the Creator s calendar, but how do you start? At www.thinkredink.com we provide printable calendars available for you to download. These are PDF documents that provide a first quality calendar page on your printer. They are instantly available for you to use. You can download one month at a time or the whole year. These pages have been meticulously created using computer software capable of calculating the positions of the planets well into the future. Astronomical data of moon phases is then interpolated to precise viewing positions on the earth. In short, the visibility of the moon in Israel can be forecast by these calculations. Of course, we believe that the ACTUAL visibility is necessary for rosh chodesh (new moon day) and that cannot be forecast. Therefore, we have connected with dedicated people in Israel who sight the moon and record the sightings. They provide detailed information about whether the moon was actually seen with the eye. (Be sure your email address is listed with us to get these updates) Even though the new moon is visible in Israel on an average of 11+ times The sighting of the moon in Israel averages better than 11 times per year a year, sometimes the crescent is so thin it really can t be known whether it will be visible or not. In these cases we print alternate calendar pages to bring your calendar into sync. Really, it is a lot of fun to make this exercise a part of your life and worship. Both the Rabbinic and the pagan dates are given to make interpolation easy. Each month, the moon phase percentage is placed in the date it is expected to occur. These are the nights to watch for the crescent!
Page 11 On The Calendar of Jehovah Volume 2 Issue 1 (Continued from page 6) who made it. The provisions that these calculating councils make for their errors, each and every year, reveal the real story. Why do they keep two feast days on the Day of Atonement when it is clear in Scripture that it is to be only one day? Why are additional holy days added to the beginning and end of Feast days? They do this because it is well known that their calculated days and the astronomical and agricultural realities don t always line up and just in case the Almighty is watching and if He is a stickler for detail and in case He really means what He said They add days just to be sure. My question is: Why not do it the Yah-way? You may download the 6006 or 6007 calendar anytime, free of charge at: www.thinkredink.com Calendar tutorials and helps are also available.
Think Red Ink What did Jesus say? Don C. Harris -EIC Harold Sparks -Editor 3590 Roundbottom Road Suite f-158512 Cincinnati, Ohio 45244-3026 Phone: 513-207-9404 Email: Editor@ThinkRedInk.com To subscribe: Magazine@ThinkRedInk.com The message of Think Red Ink is simply that Christ has come to teach His people Himself and needs little assistance from the clergy or teachers to do so. We do not intend to teach beyond the universal calling to learn of Christ Himself through His Spirit. We believe that Christ is alive and living within all who honestly acknowledge and follow His leading in all good conscience. There are not many shepherds, but One. There are not many teachers, but One. Think Red Ink intends to only publish the true Word of God and His Message. (Continued from page 1) tem knows that the dec in decimal means 10. The decimal system is a system based on the number 10; therefore, the name decimal. What has December to do with the number 10? A Catholic knows that the novena continues for 9 days. A septuagenarian is someone in their 70s. An octagon has 8 sides. These are not just unrelated statements or random facts, but they all are related to the calendar. The Dec in December, the Nove in November, the Sept in September, the Oct in October all are vestigial signs of the ancient Calendar of Jehovah. Why then is December not the 10th month on our calendars? Why is it the 12th month? Initially, these months were numbered just as they are written. They were named as they were numbered. December falls in the time of year known in the Scriptures as the 10th month. November was the 9th, October was the 8th, and so on. So what happened? How did the calendar migrate from the system put in place by the Creator? Find answers to these questions and much more in the newest video teaching from Think Red Ink. The Creator's Calendar The Calendar of YHVH vs. The Calendars of Man See page 8 for details. For more information or to order any materials write to: Don Harris, 3590 Roundbottom Road PMB F 158512, Cincinnati, Ohio 45244 or call 513-207-9404 or 888-578-7867