The Lamb’s Witness from Heaven

It has been a truly amazing journey thus far in my life returning to a walk of Faith grounded in Spirit and Truth. Simply being on this path is a testimony to God’s Faithfulness and everlasting love. He never leaves nor forsakes and His Promise is true: “seek (keep on seeking) Me and you shall find Me. Knock (keep on knocking), and it shall be opened to you. Ask (keep on asking) and it shall be answered.” (Deuteronomy 4:29, Joel 2:12, Matthew 7:7, Luke 11:9)

I am going to make a statement now of what I believe to be truth to share with you. In this day it will be considered a “new” statement, but I will show you it is not a “new” statement, but an old one… an ancient one. Our Father tells us in His Word to search out and follow the ancient paths and tells us it is dangerous to walk along strange bypaths.

But My people have forgotten Me, they have burned incense to what is false, and they have stumbled from their ways, from the ancient paths, to walk in bypaths and not on a hightway, …     Jeremiah 18:15

Thus said YaHUaH, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and find rest for yourselves. But they said, ‘We do not walk [in it].'” Jeremiah 6:16

So return to the ancient paths I shall. Here is the statement and claim:

The appointment of the Passover occurs when the sun, moon, and stars testify of the sign of the Lamb (Aries)

Let me now make the case.

Let us ask YaHUaH how it is we are to tell time and keep His appointments (Feasts, Festivals, Moedim).

He answers us:

Let lights come to be in the expanse of the heavens to seperate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and appointed times, and for days and years, and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.  Genesis 1:14

Father, what are these light?

The greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars. And I set them in the expanse of the heavens to give you light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkenss. And it was good. Genesis 1:16-18

The sun, moon, and stars. All of these are found in the heavens. God “set” them there, for signs and appointed times, for days and years. The sun, moon, and stars… not the grass, not the rain, not the clouds, not the minutes or hours created by mankind nor the mathematical calculations… but the sun, moon, and stars He “set” for us. I believe that when YaHUaH “sets” something somewhere, it is permanent and unchangable. What do you believe? If He set something in place for us to be for signs and appointed times, do you believe that would be changable? Do you believe that it would move around, drift, be variable? How then would it be “set”?

Therefore, Father YaHUaH has set the times, the days, the years, and our Appointments with Him from the weekly appointment (The Sabbath) to the yearly appointments (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Shavuot, Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and the Last Great Day). Our question today: how are we to determine “when” these are so that we may “make” our appointments? He outlined them beautifully in Leviticus 23 and our first step is finding the first moon (month, in Yah’s ordinances – not ours) and start our counting and time keeping. These same times and keeping of time have existed ever since He first “set” them, but He literally tells Moses and Aharon just before the Exodus from Egypt. Let us look.

Mosheh, Arahon, and the Deliverance from Egypt during the Passover

And YaHUaH spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon in the land of Egypt, saying,

“This month is the beginning of month for you, it is the first month of the year for you.”  Exodus 12:1-2

Here are our questions:

Why is this important? Because without knowing how to recognize the first month of a new year, we cannot keep the appointments in their propers times. If we get the first month wrong and Passover wrong — the whole year we will be keeping the feasts in error. As we read Leviticus 23 as I mentioned earlier, we find we have to be able to “count” months and days. The moons (months) are not named like we have today – they are numbered. The moons (months) do not start in January either – they start when YaHUaH told Mosheh and Aharon they start. This is our quest today.

Notice, YaHUaH spoke to Mosheh and Aharon in the land of Egypt, not the land of Israel. How then, can grain that is growing in Israel be a sign or determinant of what Yahuah was showing Mosheh and Aharon in reference to the first month. Not only that, but the matters pertaining to the earth are not included in the signs, appointments, days, and years that we find in Genesis above. Certainly YaHUaH gave us reference that the first month is the month *of* abib and that is descriptive of a “seasonal” situation… but the season and the month is determined by the sun, moon, and stars.

Returning to our verse in Exodus 12:2: “This month”. What is the “this?” that Yahuah is speaking of? This is our question. The word Father used here is “chodesh” and it has come to mean “moon” because of its idea of constant “renewing”. There is another Hebrew word for month when trying to express the literal object of the moon and it is the word “yareach” but that is not used here.

Father said, “This chodesh is the rosh chodesh. It is the rishown chodesh shenah (This moon is the head or first moon. It is the beginning moon in the year)

This word chodesh comes from chadash: chadash {khaw-dash’} a primitive root; TWOT – 613; v AV – renew 7, repair 3; 10 1) to be new, renew, repair 1a) (Piel) 1a1) to renew, make anew 1a2) to repair 1b) (Hithpael) to renew oneself

So we can see that it is a word that describes something that is happening in a cyclical fashion and because the moon does this renewing each and every month or 29-30 days, it has become synonomous with month and moon.

We know from subsequent instructions given by YaHUaH that “this” month, “this” moon is also the month or the moon **of** the abib.

Today you are going out, in the month abib.” Exodus 13:4

The moon or month of abib is also descriptive.  ‘abiyb {aw-beeb’} from an unused root (meaning to be tender); TWOT – 1b; n m AV – Abib 6, in the ear 1, green ears of corn 1; 8 1) fresh, young barley ears, barley 2) month of ear-forming, of greening of crop, of growing green Abib, month of exodus and passover (March or April)

It is the month or moon when the earth begins to grow again and spring forth. Another “type” of renewal, just like the month or moon renewal. Today we call this time – springtime. So the Passover occurred in a moon or month that ocurrs in the springtime, when the earth is bringing forth anew. We can see from the above definition too, that this time of abib or springtime spans the time of the year that we today call March or April. Everybody in the western world knows this.

OK

The question becomes: Which month and which day to begin counting to Passover? To find the answer, do we look to the earth? Do we look to mathematical calculations? Do we look to the grass, grain, crops, farmland? Do we look to teachers, preachers, or calendars made in China or a calendar put out by Popes and Astonomers? Well, we do this when we have lost our way and have come up with ways in which we are “trying” to do this. There are several methods today in which we are trying to do this. Some use a combination of sighting a new sliver of the moon at a time when the barley crop is ripe enough for a first fruit offering. Some use the vernal equinox as a marker to start looking for the renewed moon. Some are beginning their count now from the vernal equinox and counting 14 days to Passover. Some use a Jewish calculated calendar from the early centuries, and then of course there is the Gregorian calendar and the Catholic church who sets easter for all the christian world for the festival of ishtar and fertility rituals with bunnies and eggs and candy.

Hey!

Here is an idea! Why don’t we just LOOK UP!? Why don’t we look up… to the heavens? Weren’t we already told that the sun, moon, and stars were for signs and appointments, days and years? I mean, that is what we read in Genesis. Do we think it changed to now be something that grows on the earth? I used to use the sighted sliver of the new moon that occured when the barley crop was enough for a first fruits offering. But there has always been something unsatisfactory about this. What if we are in a cycle of punishment for famine or drought and there is no barley? Plus Yah did not say that we use the earth. He said the sun, moon, and stars. We added the barley because we are trying to accomplish a task by human reasoning to accomplish obedience. The intention is good, but still in error. We are only doing this because some rabbis used to do this at some time in history and we assume they know what they are doing. But Father YaHUaH never says to do this, search for barley for the First Fruits offering. I now see this as “adding to” the Instructions of God and a path that is off the ancient path that He has laid for us to be on. This walk back to YaHUaH and our return to His Ways is a true journey. I know this. Many times we are on the path and we see all these pretty and shiney rocks along the way and we stop and pick them up.

They become a type of “detour” because we stop, pick them up, look at their beauty and begin walking on a side road off the path. The sighted moon and aviv barley was as this pretty shiney stone for me. I walked on that path for about 4-5 years but found it led to a dead end. When this happens, we have to have the courage to see the “Dead End” sign and to turn around and walk back to the ancient path and try to discover where we went wrong. Most of the time it is a matter of listening to others to what sounds right and reasonable and not being able to rid ourselves of that leaven (false teachings) even when we read the Words of Scripture. It is as if we read them *with* the learned twist and bias and cannot see what is right in front of us.

Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” (also Proverbs 16:25)

Enough of that, let us continue.

Does Yahuah change? The Bible says He does not change. If He changes then there is no truth… it becomes something variable.

Let’s talk about The Lamb’s Witness from Heaven. Let’s return to looking up to Him shall we?

Ancient History

According to the Bible and the witness of the lives and ages of the Patriachs (with a little help from the Book of Jubilees and the Book of Jasher) – the year of the Exodus out of Egypt can be known. It was 1379 BC or 2458 years after the Creation of Adam. What did the night sky look like in the abib of that year? It was Springtime and it was just before the Passover in Egypt when YaHUaH gave the instruction to Mosheh and Aharon in the land of Egypt that we find in Exodus 12:2. This was not the first revelation of this Feast, for the Feast was observed since the time of the beginning. There is proof in scripture for this, but that topic is not the focus of this article.

We also know from the Scripture, that months are marked by new moons. Some mark the new moon by witnessing the visible sliver each month, but there is no scriptural support for this method. The other method is by the dark moon, or when the moon is perfectly aligned between the earth and sun such that we cannot “see” the moon because all the light from the sun is reflected directly back to the sun. This time is called a conjunction and lasts for only a few seconds. It is very easy to determine when the conjunction occurs, at least which night it occurs on, perhaps not the very moment without today’s telescopes, satellites, and computers BUT it can be calculated by each and every one of us through simple counting. All one needs to do is count days. King David literally prayed to Yah for His help in being a person that counts or numbers his days:

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Dark moon night + 14.7 days = full moon. Full moon + 14.7 days = conjunction moon. Very very easy. I only mention this part because the Passover occurs on the Fourteenth day of the First Moon of the year and therefore one needs to know about the New Moon in order to know when to mark Yah’s New Year and begin counting days to Passover.

But again, this concept of New Moon determination is not the focus of this article. The focus of this article is: The Moon of the Passover. To express this another way: The Month of the Passover.

Anyone can do a short research project to find out which moon, or month, was the month of the abib in the year 1379 BC… the year of the Exodus out of Egypt.  This would have been the sky map that Mosheh and Aharon saw when YaHUah said, “This month is the beginning of months for you.” The sky map during the time of the instruction given is the *this* that Mosheh and Aharon *saw* when the instruction was given. We know two things: there was a new moon, a chodesh, and *it* (the new moon) was at a certain place along with the sun and stars. Here is my report to share with you: We can absolutely know what this is today. It will never change.

The Children of Israel came out of Egypt in the moon of Aries

We have several witnesses testifying to this fact and I will share them all with you. The first one we will cover is historical astronomy. Let me say something here first though, to help with the understanding. There are 12 and sometimes 13 months in a year. There are also 13 constellations of “fixed stars” in the celestial band of stars. Coincidence? Not hardly. There are 28 stations of the moon, and a month lasts 29.??? days. Coincidence? Not hardly. The sun and the moon both travel East to West and travel *through* the star constellations based upon the very time schedule that marks our days and months. Coincidence? Not hardly. Not only that, but ALL the world can see and view these things no matter where they are living on the planet. In other words, they “speak” to ALL people, ALL over the earth – the SAME message.

In Ancient History, Springtime was in Aries and was literally “brought in” by the constellation of Aries:

The First Point of Aries, the location of the vernal equinox, is named for the constellation. This is because the Sun crossed the celestial equator from south to north in Aries more than two millennia ago. Hipparchus defined it in 130 BCE. as a point south of Gamma Arietis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aries_(constellation)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac

First point (or cusp) of Aries and first point of Libra are names formerly used by astronomers and now used by navigators. Navigational ephemeris tables record the geographic position of the First Point of Aries as the reference for position of navigational stars. In sidereal astronomy, by contrast, the first point of Aries remains aligned with Ras Hammel “the head of the ram”, i.e. the Aries constellation.

Now a word concerning the above information. Scientists and Astronomers state that the equinoxes have moved from Aries and Libra to Pisces and Virgo. We do not need to be concerned with this. Why? Because YaHUaH does not change and His Appointments do not change, or drift, or do anything like that. He gave Mosheh a picture and that picture in the sky still happens each and every year all over the earth for millenia. The point is, that when we came out of Egypt and for the Passover, the first moon and moon of Passover, the sun and moon were in the sign of the Lamb.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_point_of_Aries#Names

The same is true in western tropical astronomy: the vernal equinox is the first point (i.e. the start) of the sign of Aries. In this system, it is of no significance that the equinoxes shift over time with respect to the fixed stars. ***Fixed Stars***

{Please note: the stars are “fixed” but it is stated that the equinox shifts} more on this a bit later.

Using the current official IAU constellation boundaries — and taking into account the variable precession speed and the rotation of the ecliptic — the equinoxes shift through the constellations as follows[6] (expressed in astronomical year numbering in which the year 0 = 1 BC, −1 = 2 BC, etc.):

The March equinox passed from Taurus into Aries in year −1865, passed into Pisces in year −67, will pass into Aquarius in year 2597, will pass into Capricornus in year 4312. It passed along (but not into) a ‘corner’ of Cetus on 0°10′ distance in year 1489.

The September equinox passed from Libra into Virgo in year −729, will pass into Leo in year 2439.

 Once again, the so called procession is of no consequence to our instruction of keeping the first month and month of Passover. Father YaHUaH did not say: look for the equinox and do anything. He simply said, “This month is the beginning of months for you.” So to get this into our stiff-necked hearts and minds … let us repeat to ourselves, “this moon, this moon, this moon, this moon” It is not “this equinox, this equinox, this equinox” See the difference? This troubled me for a while, because how could our Father, who does not change then give us an instruction that is going to change with time. It could not be! And I knew it could not be. Otherwise, the moon that He has Mosheh looking at would no longer be the moon we are to look at… and that is not possible. It would lead us into wandering and this is not the Way of Yah. Therefore, forget the equinoxes for now, the equinoxes will happen and it will travel and fall in different places according to man made calculated calendars.

Having said forget the equinoxes for now, I suppose I should say a few words anyway. Although I do not want to talk about the spring equinox, I am going to have to. An equinox is a man made descriptive term or word that has been given to a time in the year when there is nearly equal day and equal night hours. The Holy Scriptures does not find occasion to talk about equinoxes. Equinoxes are simply a phenomenon of the heavens and earth that occurs twice each year, and man has named it: Equinox (Spring or Vernal and Autumn or Autumnal). Additionally, you should know that the man made date of these equinoxes are not based upon observation. They are based upon a set calendar and currently this calendar is called the Gregorian. This is how the March 20, 21 date is given for people. This equinox you should also know, that according to man made calendars (whether it be the Julian, Gregorian, or any other historical man made calendar) moves around and/or drifts. When this begins to be noticed in reality, historically man comes up with a new calendar.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_equinox

Take time to read this short article on the changing equinox, how it is reckoned, and how much it moves and you can understand how this “day” or “time” is not advisable to use as a standard upon which to base YaHUaH’s Holy Days or His year. http://www.space.com/14951-spring-equinox-early-arrival-2012.html

Here is more information to prove the point:

When Julius Caesar established his calendar in 45 BC he set March 25 as the spring equinox. Since a Julian year (365.25 days) is slightly longer than an actual year the calendar drifted with respect to the equinox, such that the equinox was occurring on about 21 March in AD 300 and by AD 1500 it had reached 11 March.

This drift induced Pope Gregory XIII to create a modern Gregorian calendar. The Pope wanted to restore the edicts concerning the date of Easter of the Council of Nicaea of AD 325. (Incidentally, the date of Easter itself is fixed by an approximation of lunar cycles used in the Hebraic calendar, but according to the historian Bedethe English name “Easter” comes from a pagan celebration by the Germanic tribes of the vernal (spring) equinox.) So the shift in the date of the equinox that occurred between the 4th and the 16th centuries was annulled with the Gregorian calendar, but nothing was done for the first four centuries of the Julian calendar. The days of 29 February of the years AD 100, AD 200, AD 300, and the day created by the irregular application of leap years between the assassination of Caesar and the decree ofAugustus re-arranging the calendar in AD 8, remained in effect. This moved the equinox four days earlier than in Caesar’s time.

So we can see here, by using some critical thinking abilities… that the equinoxes themselves a phenomenon of the sun and moon… are accused of *drifting* when they do not fit in with a man made calculated calendar. This itself is comical in a way. But the point is, that this phenomenon of equal day and equal night that we call equinox occurs when YaHUaH has prescribed them to occur, not to a date that man sets according to his own created calendar. They are not important enough for Father to tell us about them in His Word such that we need to deal with them in any special manner *for His Appointments*. Not only that, but the date of equinox is different for different places on the globe.

I bring this up so that you will know, that the spring equinox is not a constant according to the calendar. Please read that sentence again. Let it sink in. If a time in the year of Yah’s time is based upon a made up point in time, that moves and drifts from years to years – how can that point in time be dependable? It is like building a house on shifting sand.

In many ways, this year’s (2013) equinox played a very large role in my search and findings and led to this article and for that I am eternally thankful. 119 Ministries produced an excellent video teaching of their belief on The Torah Calendar and how to determine a new month, a new year, and the Feast days. All of their scriptural evidence was excellent and so I set out to prove it true this year. Each new moon by conjunction moon, I walked outside, looked up, and examined the night sky with the stars and constellations. Especially noting Orion, Taurus, the star Aldebaron, and the Pleiades… and noting their position in the sky and how much they were moving each week and month into the western horizon. I could tell that there was no way that Aldebaron and Pleiades were going to be fading into the western horizon by the time of the spring equinox. And as a matter of fact, when the equinox came on March 20 and 21 both of these stars were still very plain to see directly over our heads and not fading at all!

Why do these stars begin to fade out? It is simple. Between the constellations of Pisces and Taurus (Taurus is the constellation where we find both Aldebaron and Pleiades) is the constellation Aries. If Aldebaron and Pleiades are still plainly seen shortly after sunset we KNOW that the sun is not close to Aries but is still in Pisces. When the sun gets in Aries these two stars will fade because the brightness of the sun even during and after sunset will be shining too much light on them for us to still see them. People were declaring the new year when I could still *plainly* see both of these star patterns and *still* see Aries up above my head in the night sky! Something was not proving out to be true!

Then I began looking for *actual* equinox to see if something was wrong because I got to thinking, how in the world can the equinox be on the same day year after year after year? Something seems amiss.

I chose to look at the the time of equal day and equal night from the location of Jerusalem and sure enough… that date was not March 20th but was March 16th. Bottom line: I knew I had to abandon the idea of looking for equinox and then looking for new moon to start the counting of Yahuah’s year because it is forever changing, drifting, and just could not be trusted especially within our calculated calendar system (speaking of the Gregorian Calendar of the West).

SO, I continued on the journey looking at what I knew to be fixed and knew to be the instruction: the sun, moon, and stars – and nothing else. These never change and Yahuah directs their paths. I just need to learn to look, listen, and intrepret and so that is what I have been doing. I am sharing now with you, the reader, some of my findings although it seems now that this article could go on and on and on with all I am discovering! It is taking me a long time to get it all organized for you and to make it a length that does not take you a year to read.

Having said that and shown you the truth of this concept of the travelling equinox — we can indeed know, that when the daylight hours start to become longer… that this “marker” (the equinox) in time of the year is approaching. Therefore, it has become the standard for marking springtime. This following statement is truthful:

When the daylight hours begin to last longer – springtime is approaching. The moon/month of the abib is approaching. The month of the Passover is approaching. Now, placing that time or date in a scheduled Gregorian month is in error. The Seasons and months are determined by the heavens. The evidence on the earth follows suit.

Mosheh and Aharon would have known this, along with every other farmer, shepherd boy, and astronomer in the ancient world because these things have everything to do with planting and harvesting and therefore survival of life itself in that it concerns obtaining food from the earth. We are told, that the spring equinox passed from the contellation Taurus into the constellation Aries in the year 1865 BC and stayed in Aries until 67 BC. This claim is based upon a theory of the “procession of the stars.”

Regardless of whether or not this is true, the springtime during the time of Mosheh, Aharon, and the children of Israel leaving Egypt was under the Constellation Aries.

That was our first witness: The Springtime (the Abib Month) during the time of the Exodus was in the constellation of Aries – the Lamb. This fact is incontrovertable and undeniable.

Our next witness is the Famous, Jewish Historian Josephus: Flavius Josephus.

In Book III in The Antiquities of the Jews, he writes:

“In the month of Xanthicus, which is by us called Nisan, and is the

beginning of our year, on the fourteenth day of the lunar month, WHEN

THE SUN IS IN ARIES (for in this month it was that we were delivered

from bondage under the Egyptians,) the law ordained that we should

every year slay that sacrifice which I before told you we slew when we

came out of Egypt, and which was called the Passover:  and so do we

celebrate this Passover in companies, leaving nothing of what we sacrifice

till the day following.  The feast of unleavened bread succeeds that of the

Passover, and falls on the fifteenth day of the month, and continues seven

Days, wherein they feed on unleavened bread . . . . But on the SECOND

DAY of unleavened bread, which is the SIXTEENTH DAY OF THE

MONTH, they first partake of the fruits of the earth, for before that day

They do not touch them” (Antiquities, Book III, chapter X, part 5).

“Aries” is the heavenly constellation which begins at the Spring Equinox, and continues 30 days.  Thus Passover, according to Josephus, could not come before the Spring Equinox!  “Aries” is the sign of the Lamb, or Ram – which is the sign of the “Lamb of God” who took away the sins of the world, bearing them upon Himself when He was slain for us, as our “Passover Lamb” (I Cor.5:7; John 1:29).

There we have two witnesses to this very simple way of knowing when the first month is and when to start counting to Passover and all the following festival days.

Our next witness will be in the language of Ancient Hebrew and how they saw some of the fixed star constellations and interpreted their meanings. What do you think our Hebrew Patriarchs called the constellation of Aries? I will show you.

The Constellation of the Lamb

Let’s talk about this constellation of Aries for a bit. The things I found out about this constellation from the viewpoint of the Hebrews was awe inspiring. Witness after witness came forth.

First, the ancient Hebrews did not call this constellation by the name of Aries. They called it

Taleh

From the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament concerning the root tav, lamed, hey תלה

verb – to hang

Derivative: quiver

The parallel form tala rendered “be bent,” “hang,” “hang in doubt,” is attested only in Deut 28:66

And YaHUaH shall scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other mighty ones, which neither you nor your fathers have known, wood and stone. And among those nations you are to find no rest, nor have a resting place for the sole of your foot. But there YaHUaH shall give you a trembling heart, and failing eyes, and sorrow of being. And your life shall be hanging (tala’) in suspense before you, and you shall fear day and night, and not be certain of your life. In the morning you say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ and at evening you say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear of your heart, with which you fear, and because of the sight which your eyes see. And YaHUaH shall bring you back to Egypt in ships, by a way of which I said to you, ‘You are never to see it again.’ And there you shall be sold to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one to buy. Deut 28:64-68

Also in the sense of “hang in doubt” in Hosea 11:7 and 2 Samuel 21:12

The major form of this word tala is found 28 times. The verb means basically “to hang” whether a utensil on a peg (Isaiah 22:24, Ezekiel 15:3), weapons on a wall (Ezk 27:10, Song of Songs 4:4), or a lyre on a tree (Psalms 137:2). Job 26:7 strikingly pictures the then-known world as suspended in space, thereby anticipating future scientific discovery, when it states that God “hangs the earth upon nothing.” Other examples of the verb may be seen in Lamentations 5:12, 2 Samuel 4:12, 18:10.

Most frequently, tala is used in reference either to the execution of a person or to the public display of his corpse after execution. Since Herodotus (History, 3.159) indicates that impaling was a common method of execution in Persia (see also Ezra 6:11), perhaps tala al’es, traditionally rendered “he hanged on a gallow/tree,” means rather “he impaled on a stake,” especially in Ester (ef. particularly LXX stauroo “impale/crucify,” which is used to translate tala in Ester 7:9). The same notion underlies Gen 40:19, 22; 41:3, reflecting Egyptian practice.

A somewhat similar sense underlies Lamentations 5:12 reflecting Mesopotamian practice. In any event, there is no evidence that the hangman’s noose was employed in such context while Assyrian reliefs during the time of the Hebrew monarchy often picture corpses hanging on the stake where they have been impaled. If this interpretation is correct, Deut 21:22 take on greater vividness; “If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, because a hanged man is accursed by God.”

[However, this passage may indicate that Israel’s method of executing the crimnal differed from that of her pagan neighbors; whereas the latter executed the offender by hanging or impaling, Israel stoned him and supplemented his punishment by hanging/impaling his body (2 Samuel 4:12; Josephus, Ant. 4.202; cf. Josh 10:26; 8:29.

Since this supplementary act demonstrated that the victim was cursed by the Lord, his body had to be buried by nightfall in order not to defile the blessed land; cf. Dt 21:22]. This famous passage, alluded to in the commentary on Nahum found in Qumran Cave IV, is also referred to in Ats 5:30, 10:39, and quoted in part in Gal 3:13. In all three NT passages, the crucifixion of Yahusha is in view, OT impaling was accomplished most likely on the single upright post or crux simplex, while our Lord was crucified most probaly on the notorious and all-too-familiar upright-plus-crossbar, the crux immissa enabling the super-scription to be nailed to the cross above his head (Mt. 27:37, Lk 23:38). More significantly, his hanging on a tree denoted that he bore the curse of death for us.

The Ancient Hebrews called the constellation of fixed stars that occured with the usshering in of Springtime (Abib) Telah. The Lamb, to hang, impaled on a stake/tree. This is pretty phenomenal to me.

I found some good references online concerning the ancient names of some of the constellations and stars. I was looking specifically for names in Hebrew because that is the language of the people who Elohim’s Word has come through to us. I will post the links for you following each copied reference material.
THE TWELVE CONSTELLATIONS OF THE ZODIAC.

Aries (Ram), Taurus (Bull), Gemini (Twins), Cancer (Crab), Leo (Lion), Virgo (Virgin), Libra (Balance), Scorpio (Scorpion), Sagittarius (Archer),Capricomus (He-Goat), Aquarius (Waterman), Pisces (Fishes).

The broad belt, the Zodiacal circle, was first regarded as the path of the Moon by most of the Eastern nations (according to Mr. Blake). By the Chinese, Egyptians,’ Persians, East Indians, Siamese and Arabians ; and was divided into twenty-eight parts, called Moon-stations or mansions. (The Moon being one day of twenty-four hours in each station.) These are named by the Arabs from parts of the larger Constellations in or near the belt of the Zodiac. http://archive.org/stream/namesstarsandco00higggoog/namesstarsandco00higggoog_djvu.txt

I found it fascinating that there are moon stations. Indeed there are as I found out. Each night the moon will be at its next stop in its twenty something hour rotation around the earth and there are 28 of them. 28 days. Now we know that a month is 29 or 30 days… but remember the conjunction causes us to not see the moon for at least one night and sometimes two, so the 28 stations makes complete sense. I will share some amazing facts with you concerning the moon when it moves into its “spot” to tell us of the month of Passover later on in the article. Truly amazing discovery.

The Hebrew words, Mazzaroth, found in Job, 38:32, and Mazzaloth, found in 2 Kings, 23:5, are generally believed to stand for the Constellations of the Zodiac. The Arabs call the ** Zodiac,” Mantakat al Buruj = or Girdle of the Mansions or Stations.

/. Aries = The Ram, The Greeks called this Krios = The Ram. The Arabs called this Buij al Hamal = The Constellation of the Ram, from Buij = a Constellation, and Hamal = a Ram.

Name on charts, Arabic, Meaning, Alpha Hamal hamal The Ram.

The sun and 12 zodiac signs (for the year) The moon and 28 stations (for the month). Coincidence? I don’t believe in coincidences – I believe in a Divine Creator who set all things in order. There is also a 13th constellation sign for the occasional 13th month (moon) of the year if Yah so desires.

Let us go to our next witness. There is an online and downloadable software program called Stellarium. It is an astronomy program of the sun, moon, and stars. Dates can be put in throughout history to see where the heavenly bodies were and into the future as well. I put in 1379 BC and saw the night sky from Egypt. Here is what I saw:

The Sun was in Aries and the New Moon (dark moon) was in Aries as well.

Next I looked up the years 26 to 31 AD. In the year 30 AD the sky map appeared *exactly* and I mean *exactly* the same as it did in 1379 BC

Here are the screen shots for you to look at:

1379 BC from Egypt. Regular shot first and night shot second: (The legend reads 1380 BC because there is no number or accounting for year “zero” therefore a year is added to the one I am searching out)

We can see the sun and moon are together, marking the new moon and they are both at the first point of Aries, which historically was the outstretch front leg of the Lamb as seen to “severe” the chains upon the pisces fish from the whale of Cephus.

I am sharing with you now some historical renderings of the constellations of Pisces (the fish) and Aries (the Lamb) and I would like for you to take special note of the Lamb’s foremost hoof and where it is located.

Do you see in the above images how the Lamb’s foremost hoof is literally “on” or “in” the constellation Pisces and in fact is intimately associated with the cord/knot/rope/chains of the fish? There is a reason I am focusing on this now because it will be very important later. Don’t worry, I am *not* getting into lore or myth. There is a factual, literal, and scientific reason I have to show you this. Take speical note that the knot of the cord or rope holding the fish is literally a star.

Here are some renderings of the constellation Pisces:

Aries (Telah, the Lamb or Ram)  was originally defined in ancient texts as a specific pattern of stars, and has remained a constellation since ancient times; it now includes the ancient pattern as well as the surrounding stars.^[4] In the description of the Babylonian zodiac given in the clay tablets known as the MUL.APIN, the constellation now known as Aries was the final station along the ecliptic. The MUL.APIN was a comprehensive table of the risings and settings of stars, which likely served as an agricultural calendar. Modern-day Aries was known as ^MULLÚ.ḪUN.GÁ, “The Agrarian Worker” or “The Hired Man”.^[5] Although likely compiled in the 12th or 11th century BCE, the MUL.APIN reflects a tradition which marks the Pleiades as the vernal equinox, which was the case with some precision at the beginning of theMiddle Bronze Age. The earliest identifiable reference to Aries as a distinct constellation comes from the boundary stones that date from 1350 to 1000 BCE. On several boundary stones, a zodiacal ram figure is distinct from the other characters present. The shift in identification from the constellation as the Agrarian Worker to the Ram likely occurred in later Babylonian tradition because of its growing association with Dumuzi the Shepherd. By the time the MUL.APIN was created—by 1000 BCE—modern Aries was identified with both Dumuzi’s ram and a hired laborer. The exact timing of this shift is difficult to determine due to the lack of images of Aries or other ram figures.^[6]

That is our testimony of the Sun and Stars, now let us go to the testimony of the Moon and Stars

The Testimony of the Moon and Stars

The sun and stars consists of the sun as it travels along the ecliptic literally *through* the star constellations. The sun does this every year in a cycle and spends approximately 30 days in each fixed star constellation. This is likened unto the hour hand on a clock. We will now look at the moon and stars in that the moon does exactly like the sun does with the exception that the moon travels through the fixed star contellations along the ecliptic each and every one to two days approximately. Such that the moon travels through each constellation once every 30 days. This is likened to the minute hand on a clock.

I have shown and proved to you the sun was in Aries during the time of the exodus Passover. Now, where was the moon? A little information for you of the moon and stars.

The Twenty-eight Moonstations or Mansions. The twenty-ninth and thirtieth positions are not listed because the moon is not seen due to conjunction (this is my deduction on the matter). Different cultures have named these stations different names and they are named according to the nearest star to the moon during its travel across the constellations. Zodiac or Mazzeroth constellations are literally made up of groups of stars, and these prominent stars have been given names. Who named them? YaHUaH did as we are told in Scripture:

[He] appoints the number of the stars, He gives names to all of them. Psalm 147:4

The heavens declare the glory of God, and earlier versions of Psalm 19: 1 say that the “firmament” shows His handiwork. Genesis 1: 8 tells us that the “firmament” is heaven.  Later versions say the “host of heaven,” meaning the stars, the work of His hands.  And what majesty it is!

The stars are silent.  Yet, Psalm 19: 2 – 4 tells us that they utter speech day unto day, and show knowledge night unto night.  There is no speech, yet the message is so clear that all can understand it in any language.  We only have to consider the TRUE message that God wrote in the sky from the very beginning, not the FALSE message of the evil astrologers.  We will learn how, before the astrologers subverted God’s message, the stars were placed in such a way as to give direct revelation from God to His creation.  They prophesied the entire Bible before there was a Bible.  They told the life of Yahusha Messiah, and the life of you and me, from the beginning of time through all eternity.  The constellations tell of God’s glory and set forth His purposes and counsels. http://www.intelligentdesigntheory.info/astrology_12_zodiac_signs_symbols_meanings.htm

Also, this reference book Mazzaroth by Frances Rolleston gives evidence that Adam and Seth were taught the names of the stars and their constellations. A portion of it is on Google Books here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=A3v65RqTWsMC&pg=PA1&lpg=PP1&output=html_text

Again from the online book: The Names of the Stars and Constellations (Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic) found here: http://archive.org/stream/namesstarsandco00higggoog/namesstarsandco00higggoog_djvu.txt

we learn the following:

The first Moonstation

f =E1 sheratain = The two signs.

t=Beta and gamma = of Aries = The Ram.

2nd Moonstation f =E1 Botein=The little Belly.

t = Ep6ilon and delta = of Aries = The Ram.

3rd Moonstation (=E1 Thoreyya==The Pleiades.

Beta Sheratan … el sharatain … The two signs. (dual of Isharat = a sign)

Hebrew, Gamma Mesartim … dual of Mesharat An attendant. I Meshartim Beta and gamma were — Sharatain Mesartim = The two attendant signs to, Hamal = The Ram = Hamal — being originally the whole group.

Now this is a combination of all the cultures information giving us Hebrew names of these stars and also the Arabic names and understandings. Now, please take another look at the constellation of the Lamb along with the stars of the constellation

Mesarthim in Hebrew is Mesharetim (Ministers)

Then there is an alpha and beta stars named Hamal and Sheratan respectively and isn’t it fascinating to see and know that the Arabs called these “the two witnesses”

Does that ring a bell with anyone? The new moon today is proclaimed by the sighted moon community when two witnesses come forth and testify they have “seen” the sliver of the new moon. I just have to wonder if this is not done as a remnant of the Arab names for these two stars in Aries. It truly is an uncanny coincidence, if a coincidence at all.

But this is not the most amazing find for me. There is another star. This star is the point of the knot that makes up the tie of the rope that is attached to the two fish of Pisces. If you will look at the front hoof of the Lamb – it extends into Pisces and in fact in some older renderings the hoof is this same very star. The name of this star is: Al Rescha. In Arabic, the Al prefix is like an article in the English language. The Arabic “Al” is as the English “The”. In nearly all the books and articles I have read researching this topic of the names of the stars, the testimony and evidence is this: That all the names are today mostly from the Greek. Greek is very similar to Hebrew and in fact stems from Hebrew. The Greek words and names nearly always contain a two or three letter consonant root as the parent stem of the words. This is just like Hebrew. In fact, the two and three letter root stems (parent words) do not change when going from Hebrew to Greek much of the time.

When we look at Al Rescha, we have “The” Rescha. We have an “R” we have a “sh” and we have an “a” or “ah”.

These Hebrew consonants are: resh, shin, hey… Spelling the word: roshah. The word rosh or resh in Hebrew is: Head. Translating the name of this star in the Hebrew language is literally: The Head.

Al Rescha —- The Head.

This month is the beginning of months for you, it is the first month of the year for you. Exodus 12:2

chodesh ro’sh chodesh ri’shown chodesh shenah

It is amazing to me, to have been able to discover this information. This is all what happened as I set out to “test everything” When I saw that the stars that were supposed to fade when the new year and month of passover was approaching did not, in actually, begin to fade (Alebaron and Pleiades), I set out to find out what was wrong and I believe with all my heart that Yahuah has led me to find it. By the time that the new moon at the head of the year is in the station of the two witnesses, it is a day old. It crossed “the head” [of the year] a day or two earlier when it was at or near Al Rescha, The Head.

Let me show you where the sun, moon, and stars were when the new year was proclaimed by the Messianic community this year going by the sighted moon and aviv barley AND going by the equinox for others:

The top photo is from stellarium on March 10th and the bottom photo is from March 13th to show the sky whether a person is a conjunction moon person or a sighted moon/barley person. As plainly shown, the sun is not testifying of the month of Aries, but of the month of Pisces. The sun is barely even entering into Pisces at the Western edge of Pisces. This is because it was the moon of Pisces, not Aries.

Why can’t the first month be when the sun is in Pisces, like people are testifying to today because of the equinox? Because the *new moon* and I am talking about whether or not people do sighted moon or conjunction… in this instance is *does not* matter… the *new moon* cannot be renewed without passing between the earth and sun, isn’t that right? This is what produces a new moon. If the sun is in Pisces and we have a new moon, then by straight facts of evidence, then the moon AND sun are in Pisces and not the Lamb. Can you see what I am saying here? The night sky pictures above show of where the sun and moon were this year when believers proclaimed the new year. Now you can decide for yourself if this appears correct to you.

Here is what the sun, moon, and stars appeared as on 10-11 April 2013:

As we can see, the sun and moon are located in Pisces yet would be at the forehoof of Aries proclaiming the beginning or head of the new year and countdown to Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits.

In Conclusion

I have shared these discoveries and revelations with you in all humility. It is not my desire to cause division or strife in the Body but it is important that we be united in Truth. There are still so many matters that require proving and searching out and sharing with one another. This method of the witness of the Lamb from the heavens is fixed and will never change. It is the testimony of the sun, moon, and stars.

And Elohim said, “Let lights come to be in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and appointed times, and for days and years, and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it came to be so. Genesis 1:14-15

With Yahusha (Jesus) as our High Priest and only Rabbi and Head of the Body of believers, He instructs us each year of the time He has ordained and set forth from the beginning. All we have to do is “look up” to the heavens and receive.

As time permits, I will do additional articles on some of the other amazing things I have learned. Things concerning the stars in Pisces and also concerning the 7th month of the Fall Festivals. With Aries and the first moon, we now have Libra as the 7th moon. Libra is the constellation of the balance scales — meaning justice and judgment. Oh the riches of His Glory for ALL the world to see!

The new year began on 10 April 2013 according to the heavens and Passover occurs on 24 April followed by Unleavened Bread on 25 April.