GOD'S HOLY DAYS
for
CHRISTIANS

Just as the Israelites fled from the Egyptians, who were symbols of sin, we should flee from sin. Indeed, their flight was so urgent that there was no time to let their bread dough rise. Two special days were involved in the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The first day was the day that the Israelites left Goshen. The last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread commemorates the day that the miracle of the Red Sea crossing (probably the Gulf of Aqaba) made their liberation from Egypt complete. Just as the Egyptian pharaoh was imprisoned in the depths of the sea, Satan will one day be imprisoned in the depths of the pit (Revelation 20:1 to 3).

This teaches us that though we are set free from bondage to sin as soon as we turn to Christ for our righteousness, it will actually take some time and effort before we are safe from the dangers of sin (Romans 8:1 to 39). Indeed the Red Sea Crossing symbolises our baptism, which itself symbolises our crossing from mortal flesh to immortal spirit. (I Cor 10:2, I Cor 15:35 to 58).

Sometimes leaven is used in the Bible as a symbol for sin. Thus unleavened bread points to us walking a sinless life. (1 Corinthians 5: 7 & 8) Jesus reinforces this new life when He says "If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love." (John 15:10) We should also recall the urgency that the Israelites felt in leaving Egypt, and flee from our former sins with similar haste.

The first and last days of Unleavened Bread, due to their special significance mentioned above, are both Annual Sabbaths. -That is, they are both days that God commands us to remember by setting them aside as days dedicated to worship with Him and fellowship with other Christians. One specific time of fellowship is set apart on the first day: "The Night of Solemn Observance". This commemorates the time on the evening and night of the 15th of Abib when the Israelites began to actually march out of Egypt. - For Christians, this corresponds to when, having accepted Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf, we begin to follow God and leave our old sinful life behind.

WAVE OFFERING

This first-fruit represents Jesus, who was raised from the dead and then ascended to His Father on that day. Later that day He returned and instructed the disciples during the next forty days (Matthew 28:1 to 10, Luke chapter 24, Acts 1:3). After that He ascended to Heaven where He will remain until it is time to set up the Kingdom of God on Earth (1 Corinthians 15:20 to 23).

Our hope of resurrection is firmly linked to Jesus' resurrection (Romans 6:5, I Peter 1:3).

On the morning of the Wave Offering, we offer praise to God and lift up (wave) a sheaf of barley to commemorate how Jesus was resurrected and lifted up to Heaven on that day.

Pentecost is Greek for Fifty, referring to the number of days from the First-fruit to Pentecost. This High Day is known as the Feast of Weeks to the Israelites. It is commanded in the Bible at Leviticus 23:15 to 22 and Deuteronomy 16:9 to 12.

The Feast of Weeks coincides with the beginning of the wheat harvest in Israel. For this Feast God instructs the Israelites to make two loaves of bread. The loaves signify that this is a much larger harvest than the single sheaf of the First-fruit. Many Biblical Holy Day keeping Christians believe that Pentecost symbolises the Harvest of the First Resurrection. It has been suggested that one loaf represents the Israelites and the other the redeemed Gentiles. Others think that one loaf represents those who have died before Christ's Return and the second loaf represents those who are alive and transformed - without dying- at Christ's Return. We will discuss the events surrounding the First Resurrection in more detail below.

Israelite tradition says that it was on the Feast of Weeks that Jehovah God spoke the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai, thus linking this High Day with obedience to God's Law.

On Pentecost, 31 AD, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples, thus launching a new era for his followers that will continue until he returns. Peter, speaking to the crowd that gathered on that day (and to us) said:

Repent, and every one of you be immersed in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God calls.
Acts chapter 2:38-39 (Also re-read Romans chapter 8)

Only those who have chosen to accept the sacrifice of Jesus for their sins and who have tried to keep God's Laws will be in the First Resurrection:

Here is the patience of the saints; here are those keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Revelation 14:12

As Scripture says:

Then the seventh angel trumpeted: And there were great voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of the world have become our Lord's and His Christ's, and He shall reign for ages of ages!"

And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying: "We thank You, Lord God the Almighty, who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned."

"The nations were wrathful, and Your wrath has come, and the time to judge the dead, and to give the reward to Your slaves, the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and destroy those who are destroying the earth."

Revelation 11:15 to 18

For we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we, the living, who remain until the coming of the Lord cannot go before those who are sleeping at all.

For the Lord Himself, with a word of command given by an archangel's voice and with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:15 to 17

The earth at this time will be a crippled and dying planet, devastated by years of drought, plagues and massive wars. See Matthew chapter 24 and Revelation 5:1 to 7:17 for these details.

Jesus will then take His followers to the Sea of Glass, before God our Father, for the Marriage of the Lamb and the Wedding Supper (Matthew 24:31, Rev 4:6, Rev 15:2 to 4).

While Jesus and His Bride (all of His faithful followers) are celebrating on the Sea of Glass, the rest of God's wrath will be poured out on the unrepentant inhabitants of the earth. Even while suffering under God's condemnation, the leaders of earth will continue to assemble their armies at Armageddon in a vain attempt to prevent Christ from taking rulership from them (Revelation 8:1 to 16:14 ).

As part of our observance of Pentecost, we offer (wave) two loaves of freshly baked leavened bread.

FEAST OF TRUMPETS

Then the seventh angel trumpeted: And there were great voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of the world have become our Lord's and His Christ's, and He shall reign for ages of ages!"
And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying: "We thank You, Lord God the Almighty, who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were wrathful, and Your wrath has come, and the time to judge the dead, and to give the reward to Your slaves, the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and destroy those who are destroying the earth."
Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

All of the remaining annual Holy Days are set in the seventh month. The number seven is often used by God to symbolise completeness. There are seven annual High Day Sabbaths. They are the first and last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles and the Great Last Day.
(Jewish traditions call the days from Feast of Trumpets to Day of Atonement the "Days of Awe". They regard them as solemn days of reflection and repentance in preparation for the Day of Atonement. Though the Days of Awe contain a kernel of truth, they are not Biblically commanded and thus are not observed by Bible-believing Christians. )

The annual Holy Days of the Seventh Month reveal the completion of God's salvation and judgement on a comprehensive worldwide basis. Understanding these Holy Days is a major key to the correct interpretation of the book of Revelation.

Jesus will take His Elect to the Mount of Olives with Him where He will declare that all the kingdoms (governments) of this world are to be replaced by God's government. (See Zechariah chapter 14.)

The kingdoms of earth will refuse to hand over power to Christ and their enormous army will attack Him. Revelation chapter 17 explains this. They will be destroyed and Satan, who was leading them, will be captured.

Revelation 17 also helps us identify the Scarlet Woman who deceived the nations into fighting against Christ:

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth became drunk from the wine of her fornication."
And he carried me away into the desert in the Spirit. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filth of her fornication.
And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE WHORES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
And I saw the woman drunk from the blood of the saints and from the blood of Jesus's witnesses. And I marvelled, seeing her with great amazement.
Revelation 17:1 to 6

"He shall speak great words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change the appointed times (God's Holy Days) and law."

The whore of Revelation 17 is called the Mother of Whores because of all the other false religions and churches that she has "given birth" to. The Mother of Whores is, beyond any doubt, the Babylonian Mystery Religion disguised by her new image as Roman Catholicism. The Beast she rides on is an all-powerful world government. In the Middle ages, this was the "Holy Roman Empire", but may soon be the European Union and/or the United Nations. Each of the heads of this beast represent one of the powerful eras in this empire's existence. The final resurrection of this beast is already under way in Europe. Few people are aware that the European Union was set up under the guidance of the Roman Catholic Church and that the present Pope sees it as an instrument of potentially immense power.

Trumpets points to the destruction of Satan's followers in the battle which will occur in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, just outside Jerusalem. The armies of earth's nations will gather in Armageddon and surge down into this valley in a vain attempt to overthrow Christ and the saints who will wait for them there. (Joel 3:1-2 & 12-17; Revelation 19)

DAY OF ATONEMENT

In Leviticus 23:26 to 32 and Numbers 29:7, Jehovah God commands us to observe Atonement.

It is profitable to compare Revelation 20:1 to 3 with the Hebrew symbolism for the Day of Atonement given in Leviticus 16:7 to 34. The two goats in Leviticus represent Jesus Christ and Satan. Jesus Christ is the 'goat' presented to Jehovah, the One True God. The Hebrew word translated as 'scapegoat' in the New King James version is 'Azazel', which means 'the one who departed'. That Satan departed from God is abundantly clear.

The ritual foreshadowed that Jesus would be slain as a sin offering, (vs. 9) taking upon himself our guilt for our sins. The Day of Atonement also shows how Satan's guilt in leading us into sin will be placed back on his head before he is banished for the thousand years. (vs. 20 to 22)

The Day of Atonement is thus a Day of Judgement. Those who are alive and still opposing God will be destroyed. Those who have finally acknowledged their guilt (after Christ's return) and turned to Him for cleansing before this battle may be spared.

Matthew 25:31 to 46 describes the judgement of surviving mankind at the time of Christ's return in terms of sheep and goats. The 'sheep' are those who have helped God's people during the times of persecution before Jesus' return. They shall be allowed to live in God's Kingdom. The 'goats' turned their backs on God's people. They are utterly destroyed in the eternal fire prepared for Satan. (Malachi 4:1)

Finally, the Day of Atonement is a day of Liberty. It is on this day that the trumpets are blown to begin the Year of Jubilee. (Leviticus 25:8-17) The Jubilee is when God will "proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants." (Isaiah 61:1 to 3). Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf we are truly brought into the family of God as His sons and daughters. This aspect of the Day of Atonement is truly a time of great celebration!

FEAST OF TABERNACLES

"A certain nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and to return.
"So, calling ten of his servants, he gave ten minas to them, and said to them, 'Trade until I come.'
"But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this one to reign over us.'
"And so it was, when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then said for these servants to be called to him, to whom he had given the money, that he could know what each had gained by trading.
"And the first came, saying, 'Lord, your mina has gained ten minas.'
"And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a small thing, have authority over ten cities.'
"And the second came, saying, 'Lord, your mina has gained five minas.'
"And to this one he said, 'And you be over five cities.'
"And another came, saying, 'Lord, Behold your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief. For I feared you, because you are an exacting man, collecting what you did not lay down, and reaping what you did not sow.'
"And he said to him, 'Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an exacting man, collecting what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow.
'Then why did you not put my money on the lender's table, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?'
"And to those standing by he said, 'Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.'
And they said to him, 'Lord, he has ten minas.'
'For I say to you, that to everyone who has, it will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
'But bring those enemies of mine here, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.' "
Luke 19:12 to 27

And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them and the souls of those who were beheaded for their witness of Jesus and because of the word of God, and who had not worshipped the beast or its image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hand. And they lived and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy is he who is part of the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years.
Revelation 20:4 to 6

The word 'tabernacles' also brings deeper understanding of the Thousand Years. A tabernacle is a temporary dwelling. In Leviticus 23:42 & 43 God tells the Israelites to live in a tabernacle during this feast. It reminds them that they lived in tabernacles in the desert on their way to inherit the Promised Land after their Exodus from slavery in Egypt. It teaches us that those who are in the first resurrection at Christ's return will live with Him in temporary dwellings until the New Jerusalem is brought down after the Thousand Years. It also teaches us that those who turn to Christ after His return will live in their temporary mortal bodies until the end of the Thousand Years.

The Thousand Years will be a time of joy for all who are blessed with the opportunity to live in it. Sickness will be virtually unknown and even mortal life spans will be extended to many hundreds of years. Jesus will lead us in a program of renewal that will see most of the earth turned into a paradise that today only seems to be an unachievable dream. (Some parts of the earth will be left as an uninhabitable wasteland to remind us of what we 'achieved' on our own.) He promises us that it will be a time when there is plenty for everyone. No longer will we have wars and famines, nor oppression and anger. (Isaiah 2:2-4, Ezekiel 47:1-12) Everyone will have a part in His plan, and everyone will benefit from their labour. Agricultural country will be full of small, productive family farms. Cities will be beautifully designed, clean and welcoming. Education will be valued and all will have access to it. (Isaiah 30:18-24 & 32:16-18 & 65:17-25) God will ensure that all development will be made to benefit all His Creation, and we will be trained in all the skills and knowledge required to implement His plans.

GREAT LAST DAY

The Great Last Day speaks of the last resurrection after the Thousand Years, followed by Satan's release and final futile rebellion. After these events God's people will forever delight in eternal peace in God's Kingdom.

After one thousand years of God's government on earth, many of those who had not committed their lives to God before they died will be brought back to life and pardoned by Christ who has already paid for their sins. They will be shown the beauty and joy of Christ's Kingdom, and learn that this paradise is the result of obedience to God. Then Satan will be released and they will have to choose, with full knowledge of the alternatives, whether they want to follow God or Satan. Those who choose Satan's system of selfishness and lust will have to be destroyed. To let them live on would condemn us all to strife for eternity. See Revelation Chapter 20:5 to 15 for details.

After this the New Jerusalem which God has made will come down out of heaven and He will dwell in it with us. (Revelation 21:1 - 22:20) This is part of His Promise:

God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.
Revelation 21:4

TIME TO DECIDE

Which will you keep? God's Holy Days or the false holy days which are the mark of the false church and her daughters?

God says "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues." (Revelation 18:4)

Appendix

When were God's Holy Days Established and Should We Keep Them?

Now the dwelling of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt and in the land of Canaan was four hundred and thirty years.
And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years; on that very same day; it came to pass that all the host of Jehovah went out from the land of Egypt.
(As written in the Septuagint and Samaritan manuscripts.)

In the evening of that day, the angels had a feast with Lot, in which Lot served them unleavened bread. (Genesis 19:3) By then it was the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This confirms that Lot, like Abram, was also keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread, even down to such details as eating unleavened bread. Exactly one year after God's visit with Abraham, Isaac was born to Sarai as God had promised them - on the first Day of Unleavened Bread. (God also refers to Isaac's birth date as an Appointed Time (moade) in Genesis 18:14) The 400 years of affliction spoken of by Stephen in Acts 7:1 to 7 began five years later when Ishmael afflicted Isaac. (Galatians 4:9, Genesis 21:9)

If anyone has any doubts about the truth of the above claims, please recall that in Genesis 26:5 God tells us that "Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." As our God is the same "yesterday, today and tomorrow" (Hebrews 13:8), we can also be sure that His law does not change. As the Holy Days were part of the system of Law that God revealed through Moses, we know they were also revealed to Abraham.

Psalm 81:3-5 reveals that Joseph also knew and kept God's Laws and Holy Days hundreds of years before the Exodus:

In the new moon blow the shophar, at the fullness of time on our feast day. For this is a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. This He established in Joseph for a witness, when He went throughout the land of Egypt, where I heard a language that I did not understand.

And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 13:8

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth; to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people;
Revelation 14:6

To me, the least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach the good news of the unsearchable riches of Christ to the nations, and to bring all to light: what is the fellowship of the mystery, which through the ages has been hidden in God, the one who created all things through Jesus Christ; that now it might be made known by the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Ephesians 3:8-11

Not only are the Appointed Times linked to God's sanctuary on earth, but it can easily be shown that the Tabernacle Moses built was indeed only a model of the one that existed in Heaven from before the creation of the Earth. Exodus 25:8-9 & 40 and especially Hebrews 8:1 to 5 (quoted below) prove this:

Now this is the summary of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated on the right of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Servant of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.
For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this one also have something which he may offer.
For truly if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, there being those priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely warned when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "You shall make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."

And almost all things are cleansed with blood according to the law, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. Therefore it was necessary that the true copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

Your pride is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your instruments; the maggot is spread under you, and scarlet worms cover you.'
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will also dwell on the northern side of the mount of the Appointed Times; I will ascend above the high places of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the insides of the Pit.
Isaiah 14:11 to 15

Jesus Kept God's Holy Days

The only holy day anyone may question him keeping is the weekly Sabbath, as the Pharisees claimed that He broke the Sabbath. As our Sabbath booklet shows, Jesus only broke the Pharisees' absurd restrictions on the Sabbaths so He could actually observe the sabbaths in the joyful manner God intended them to be kept.

There are many scriptures showing that He kept God's Holy Days from His youth until His death (Luke 2:39 to 43, 4:16, 6:5 & 6, 22:7 &8, John 2:13, 4:45, 5:1, 6:4, 7:37, 11:55, etc).

The Apostles Kept God's Holy Days

There is similar evidence showing that they kept the Annual Holy Days. The importance of the Passover and Unleavened Bread is mentioned several times, and as it was the time of Christ's death and resurrection, remained always with them (Acts 12:3&4, 20:6, 1 Cor 5:7&8).

Pentecost was also observed by them, and indeed the first Pentecost after Christ's resurrection marked the beginning of the New Covenant church with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1, 20:16, 1 Cor 16:8) Note especially that Paul, who people often claim did away with the Holy Days, was definitely keen to observe God's Holy Days, often modifying his itinerary as he saw the opportunity to make maximum use of them.

Atonement (the Fast day) is mentioned in Acts 27:9, where it is used as a comment to stress that they were sailing in late autumn, a dangerous time of the year in the Mediterranean. Using the fast day as a reference would only be useful if the Fast (Day of Atonement) was being kept by all the brethren.

We have now seen that the Bible confirms that Jesus and the Apostles kept God's Appointed Times. And there are no scriptures which teach that we should not keep them, except for a mistranslation of Colossians 2:16, which is correctly translated early in this booklet.

Is there any further Biblical evidence that they should still be kept now and will be kept in the future?

Are the Holy Days to be Kept Today and Tomorrow?

For behold, Jehovah will come with fire and with His chariots, like a consuming wind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword Jehovah will judge all flesh; and the slain of Jehovah shall be many.
"Those who sanctify and purify themselves, to go to the gardens after One in the midst, eating swine's flesh and the abomination and the mouse, shall be consumed together," says Jehovah. "For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory.
"I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the lands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the nations. "Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to Jehovah out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says Jehovah, "as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of Jehovah.
"And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites," says Jehovah. "For as the new heavens and the new earth which I shall make stand before Me," says Jehovah, "So shall your seed and your name stand.
And it shall be that from New Moon to New Moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me," says Jehovah.
"And they shall go out and see the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be put out, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."
Isaiah 66:15 to 24

And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do n ot come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, on them there will be no rain.
If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which Jehovah strikes the nations who do not come up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
In that day "Holiness to Jehovah" shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to Jehovah of Hosts. Everyone who sacrifices shall come and take them and cook in them. In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah of Hosts.
Zechariah 14:16 to 21

Now you know which days are God's Holy Days, what they mean, and that God commands His people to observe them. Will you still reject His Appointed Times in favour of the "christianised" pagan days of Satan, the ruler of this world? Or will you join us in keeping God's Sabbaths, both weekly and Annual?

Table 1: God's Spring Holy Days

Abib 1 is not a designated Holy Day, but it is “New Year’s Day” in God’s Calendar and determines the dates of the Spring Holy Days. Abib 1 should be confirmed by observation of the crescent New Moon and the maturity of the barley the previous evening in Jerusalem. Dates in brackets are alternative dates if the New Moon is not seen on the expected date. Alternative months apply where the barley harvest is early (E) or late (L). The first day and last day of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost are Annual Sabbaths. People living east of Israel and west of the International Date Line should add another day to all of the above dates.

Table 2: God's Autumn Holy Days

Trumpets, Atonement, the first day of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day are all Annual Sabbaths. Dates in brackets are alternative dates if the New Moon is not seen on the expected date or is seen on the earlier date. People living east of Israel and west of the International Date Line should add another day to all of the above dates.