WHEN DOES THE MONTH ABIB START 
A very controversial topic. There are so many interpretations around, that a new convert to the Truth of Yahushua, doesn’t know any longer who to follow and who to avoid.
The topics that cause the most controversies are the “Barley” and the “Equinox” There are those that hold to the truth of the barley, and not the equinox, and there are those who stick to the theory of Abib after the equinox. Then there are those who follow the astronomical calendar.
To find the truth of this controversy, let’s go back to the Scriptures, to see what Yahweh said to Moses.

THE FIRST MONTH OF THE YEAR
Exodus 12:2 “This month is the beginning of months for you, it is the first month of the year for you.”
Exodus 13:4 “Today you are going out, in the month Abib.” 

Month H2320 chodesh kho’-desh
From H2318; the new moon; by implication a month: month(-ly), new moon.
Year H8141 shaneh shanah shaw-neh’, shaw-naw’
(The first form being in plural only, the second form being feminine); from H8138; a year (as a revolution of time): + whole age, X long, + old, year (X-ly).

Abib H24 ‘abiyb aw-beeb’
From an unused root (meaning to be tender); green, that is a young ear of grain; hence the name of the month Abib or Nisan: – Abib, ear, green ears of corn.

The determining factor here is the “new moon” which was translated as month. The verse can then read as follows: This new moon is the the beginning of new moons for you, it is the first new moon of the revolution of time for you.
This new moon or month’s name was Abib, meaning to be tender or green, or tender as a young ear of grain.

TWO GREAT LIGHTS
Yahweh is not an Elohim of confusion, he never changes. Will he leave us with no clue to know when His New Year starts? He knows that His calendar would be changed by humans. We must just seek in His Word to discover the truth, sealed to the spiritualy blind.

Genesis 1:14
“And G-d said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” (KJV)

Genesis 1:14
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 year” (The Scriptures)

Signs H226 ‘oth oth 
Probably from H225 (in the sense of appearing); a signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc.: – mark, miracle, (en-) sign, token.
Appointed Times H4150 mo‛ed mo‛adah – mo-ade’, mo-ade’, mo-aw-daw’
From H3259; properly an appointment, that is, a fixed time or season; specifically a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand): – appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn (-ity), synagogue, (set) time (appointed).
Year H8141 shaneh shanah – shaw-neh’, shaw-naw’
(The first form being in plural only, the second form being feminine); from H8138; a year (as a revolution of time): – + whole age, X long, + old, year (X -ly).

The moon for marking the months, and the sun for marking days and years. The Scriptures translates this verse the best, and for marking the changes of the year.

Leviticus 23:2
“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of The L-RD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.” (KJV)

Leviticus 23:2
“Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘The appointed times of YHWH, which you are to proclaim as set-apart gatherings, My appointed times, are these…” (The Scriptures)

Here you can see that the FEASTS of Yahweh is the same word as SEASONS in the previous verse, meaning APPOINTED TIMES or FIXED TIMES, an appointment with Yahweh, as The Scriptures say it so accurately.
Notice also that the Word also says, two great lights. We know by the verses that Yahweh is talking about the sun and the moon. So in this wonderful calendar we have to keep For His special days, we use both the sun and the moon to find the first day of the new year. Important that there is no other sign mentioned here.
Psalms 19:1-6 describes the path of the sun and the moon so perfectly, and we find our clue in verse six.
Psalm 19:6 
“Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end; And naught is hidden from its heat.”
Circuit H8622 tequphah – tek-oo-faw’, 
From H5362; a revolution, that is, (of the sun) course, (of time) lapse: – circuit, come about, end.
Another place where we find the word “tequphah” with its proper meaning: 
Exodus 34:22 “And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.” (KJV)
Exodus 34:22 “And perform the Festival of Weeks for yourself, of the first-fruits of wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering at the turn of the year.” (The Scriptures)

A Year or shaneh is the revolution of time set out in days, and the circuit or tequphah of the sun is the revolution of the sun through these days to form a year.
Just as the verses in Ex 34:22 explains, you shall observe the feasts at the tequphah, when the sun finished or ended his revolution through the appointed time which Yahweh set for it, to start a new cirquit, and a new year.Notice that the lights, not the darkness, must be used. A crescent is the first form of light of a new moon or month, it also has the meaning of – in the sense of appearing, as described at Gen 1:14 signs,226 a visible moon. NOT THE DARK OF AN ASTRONOMICAL NEW MOON.

Can you say something is new if you cannot see it? To my opinion it is dead, because you could see no moon for a whole night. The next night you can see just a very small crescent for a little while, but you can at least see it again. Just as a new plant. You can just observe a small heap of ground, and if you scratch that little heap cautiously, you’ll discover the tender, scarcely noticeable new plant. The next day it is visible above the ground as a new plant. Can you say it is a new plant if you can’t see it?

So the sun AND the moon are to be used to determine the time of set-apart day observance. How does Yahweh do that? Well, He said: The sun for days and years, and the moon for months. The set-apart days could be easily ascertained and held to.

This is where we first use the greater light: the sun. The sun passes the equator about March 20. This is called the Vernal Equinox, tequphah or the turning of the year, when the day and the night is equally in length, the end of the old year, and the starting of a new year. The spring part of the new year begins in the northern hemisphere, where Israel is situated.

The spring or Vernal Equinox, or turning of the year or tequphah, ushers in a new year and the whole month of Abib must occur within that year. So, Yahweh says to Moses, concerning the month of Abib:

Exodus 12:2
“This month (new moon) is the beginning of months for you, it is the first month (new moon) OF THE YEAR for you.”

Interesting and so simple. A year has started. It started when the sun provided the Spring Equinox, a tequphah, a turning of the year. After establishing the new year, then you use the moon. The new moon on or after that Equinox begins the first month, Abib, of that new year!

If the new moon used is prior to the Equinox, it is still in the previous year! It is then the last new moon of the old year, not the first new moon of the New Year, as Yahweh commanded it. It’s then easy to find the first day of the year by waiting until tequphah, for the first Feasts of Yahweh are actually new year gatherings.

CATHOLIC EASTER
Oxford Dictionary, Third Edition, 1934
Easter: Festival of Christ’s ressurection, corresponding to Passover and observed on 1st Sunday after calendar full moon on or after March 21. 
[OE Eastre perh. T. Eostre, dawn-goddess (aus-, see prec.)]
Can you see how the Roman Catholics renders it’s Easter calculations. They also use the equinox, but they celebrate the feast of Astarte which corresponds to, but is not, the Passover. They celebrate the first Sun-day after the calendar full moon on or after the equinox. All they celebrate is the sun-god’s ressurection, which brew out of eggs, and the rabbits that brings fertility to them.

Nowhere in the Scriptures the Messiach said we must remember His ressurection, but His BODY and His BLOOD that He gave us, for it is a New Covenant in His Blood.

Matthew 26:28
“For this is My blood, that of the renewed covenant, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

HARVESTS
Leviticus 23:10
“Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and you shall say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.”

Exodus 23:16
“and the Festival of the Harvest, the first-fruits of your labours which you have sown in the field; and the Festival of the Ingathering at the outgoing of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labours from the field.”

Sheaf H6016 ‛omer
From H6014; properly a heap, that is, a sheaf; also an omer, as a dry measure: – omer, sheaf. Properly a “heap” and further “as a dry measure”.

Can you see how the Scriptures reveal the truth to us? He called it: the FESTIVAL OF HARVEST. Will anybody harvest relatively green crops? If it is harvested and stacked in heaps or sheafs if it is still too green, it will rot. This is another indication that the crops must be as dry to be harvested.

Another problem with “grean ears” is that it is impossible for the crop to ripen to such a dry state that it can be harvested within 14 days. See verse fourteen and it clearly states that you do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until you brought your offering to Yahweh. How can you bring an offering of fresh fine flour if the crops is still too green to harvest?

Leviticus 23:13
“…and its grain offering: two-tenths of an ĕphah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to YHWH, a sweet fragrance, and its drink offering: one-fourth of a hin of wine. ‘And you do not eat bread orroasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your Elohim – a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”

During the feast of the weeks, or as Scriptures called it: the FESTIVAL OF HARVEST, all the crops are to be harvested, and ground into fine flour for the new grain offering in the form of two loaves of bread, which is also a first-fruit to Yahweh.

Leviticus 23:16
“Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new grain offering to YHWH. ‘Bring from your dwellings for a wave offering two loaves of bread, of two-tenths of an ĕphah of fine flour they are, baked with leaven, first-fruits to YHWH.”

Quite clear isn’t it? First-fruits of the harvest and fresh grain. Not some green ears of barley, or artificially dried or roasted grain, or from last year’s harvested grain, but grain that is dry enough to be ground into fresh flour, from the new harvest. All the indications of the feasts is that of the HARVEST. Nowhere can we find that the barley will be a sign for the new year. What about the flax? According to:

Exodus 9:31-32
“And the flax and the barley were smitten, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, for they were late crops.”

This incident occurred in Egypt, but the Israelites would also plant the same in Israel.

This barley thing is also very confusing. It happened a few years ago that the dates was fixed for the Pesach to start late in April. All of a sudden I got an e-mail that the barley was ready in Israel, and that Pesach will start on that same day after sunset. I was not ready for that Pesach because I didn’t clean my house of yeast, and did not have a chance to buy Matzo yet, or have any wine in my house. What a confusion it was. That confusion make me investigate the Word of Yahweh to know what He wants of us, and to seek the truth.

WHERE CAN WE FIND THE TRUTH?
Here is a letter that was received by a believer who keeps the Feasts of Yahweh.

STATE OF ISRAEL

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE

EXTENSION SERVICE

FIELD CR0PS DEPARTMENT Hakirya, Tel-Aviv June 8, 1983

Ref.35/24

Dear sir,

I received your letter of May 12, in which you asked for some data about barley. It is real coincidence that recently I have been receiving two other letters from different countries, all dealing with the same subject. Well first of all, I want to give you some general information about barley growing today in our country, which may use as a background for better understanding. As a matter of fact, barley has been diminishing steadily in our country for the last 10-15 years and covers today no more than approximately 10% of the total small grain production. This trend is due to the much lower prices for barley in compare with wheat prices, whereas the yields of both grains are more or less at the same level. The main region for barley growing is in the Negeb (South) between Beer Shebah and the Gaza strip. In the Jordan Valley there is hardly any barley left to day. Among the Arab farmers in the vicinity of Jericho there can still be found some small patches of barley.

This year was a very exceptional one, from climatic point of view. We have had an extreme wet and cold winter and therefore there was a great delay in the ripening of wheat and barley. Both are sown as a rule in , November and the harvest starts around the end of April – the beginning of May. As stated I this year, the first wheat and barley have been harvested not before mid of May in the Jordan Valley. However, it is not right of course to make a comparison between to-day and the Ancient time, not as far as concerns the variety of barley and not the way of harvesting. To-day we have to wait with the harvest until the grain is entirely dry which means a moisture content of 12-13% only. Otherwise the mechanical harvester does not perform a clean threshing and the grain cannot be stored without further drying. In the Ancient times and even to-day with primitive methods the barley and Wheat were harvested with a sicle and left on the land in sheaves for further drying. Therefore the crop could be harvested a couple of weeks earlier even if the barley would have been harvested with 20% moisture content. As you probably may know, at the Passover the first omer of barley was brought as sacrifice to the Temple and before this day, the new barley was not allowed to be consumed neither for the animals. New wheat was not allowed to be consumed before Pentecost or at least as long as old wheat was still available. In the Talmud, it is mentioned that there were years that the barley was not yet ripe at Passover. In order to be able to bring the omer sacrifice of barley in time to the Temple, they used to sow barley upon some flat roofs in the Jericho valley, which would be ready and apt to the Sacrifice on the Passover. The Omer is not a big quantity of grain. I guess that this rather extended answer will satisfy you but in case that there is still any information required, don’t hesitate to write again.

Yours sincerely

M. Bar-Droma

Director Field Crops Dept.

To those who seek, they will find…
John 14:21
“He who possesses My commands and guards them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and manifest Myself to him.”

The Book of Enoch is an incredible book of Scripture that has been hidden and maligned by Christianity for obvious reasons. You can read the entire book of Hanoch (Enoch) on this site but for now we will examine the relevant portion.

THE BOOK OF HANOCH

The Book of the Heavenly Luminaries.
The Sun.

Chapter 72

1 The book of the courses of the luminaries of the heaven, the relations of each, according to their classes, their dominion and their seasons, according to their names and places of origin, and according to their months, which Uri’el, the qodesh malakim, who was with me, who is their guide, showed me; and he showed me all their laws exactly as they are, and how it is with regard to all the years of the world
2 and unto eternity, till the new creation is accomplished which endures till eternity. And this is the first law of the luminaries: the luminary the Sun has its rising in the eastern portals of the heaven,
3 and its setting in the western portals of the heaven. And I saw six portals in which the sun rises, and six portals in which the sun sets and the moon rises and sets in these portals, and the leaders of the stars and those whom they lead: six in the east and six in the west, and all following each other
4 in accurately corresponding order: also many windows to the right and left of these portals. And first there goes forth the great luminary, named the sun, and his circumference is like the
5 circumference of the heaven, and he is quite filled with illuminating and heating fire. The chariot on which he ascends, the wind drives, and the sun goes down from the heaven and returns through the north in order to reach the east, and is so guided that he comes to the appropriate (lit. that ) portal and

6 shines in the face of the heaven. In this way he rises in the first month in the great portal, which
7 is the fourth [those six portals in the cast]. And in that fourth portal from which the sun rises in the first month are twelve window-openings, from which proceed a flame when they are opened in
8 their season.

18 …thirty mornings, and sets in the west again in the fifth western portal. On that day the day decreases by two parts, and amounts to ten parts and the night to eight parts.
19 And the sun goes forth from that fifth portal and sets in the fifth portal of the west, and rises in the fourth portal for one-
20 and-thirty mornings on account of its sign, and sets in the west. On that day the day is equalized with the night, [and becomes of equal length], and the night amounts to nine parts and the day to
21 nine parts.

The Sun and Moon: the Waxing and Waning of the Moon.

Chapter 78
6 …on the face of the heaven. And when the moon rises one-fourteenth part appears in the heaven: 7the light becomes full in her: on the fourteenth day she accomplishes her light.
7 And fifteen parts of light are transferred to her till the fifteenth day (when) her light is accomplished, according to the sign of the year, and she becomes fifteen parts, and the moon grows by (the addition of) fourteenth
8 parts.

10 …in certain months the month has twenty-nine days and once twenty-eight. And Uri’el showed me another law: when light is transferred to the moon, and on which side it is transferred to her by the sun.
11 During all the period during which the moon is growing in her light, she is transferring it to herself when opposite to the sun during fourteen days her light is accomplished in the heaven,
12 and when she is illumined throughout, her light is accomplished full in the heaven. And on the first
13 day she is called the new moon, for on that day the light rises upon her. She becomes full moon exactly on the day when the sun sets in the west, and from the east she rises at night, and the moon shines the whole night through till the sun rises over against her and the moon is seen over against the sun.

According to Chapter 72, you can see that when the sun enters the forth portal, and on account of its sign, it’s an equinox or a tequphah. Verse 7 tells us that if the sun enters that fourth portal, it’s the first month of the new year. And in that fourth portal from which the sun rises in the first month.

According to Chapter 78 states: And fifteen parts of light are transferred to her till the fifteenth day (when) her light is accomplished, according to the sign of the year, and she becomes fifteen parts…
And on the first day she is called the new moon, for on that day the light rises upon her (and is visible.)

NO DOUBT ANY MORE.

Yahweh didn’t do anything without a very good reason.

It seems that more and more people begin to doubt the new moon for the first day, but rather want the full moon to be the first day.

Yahweh told the Israelites to slaughter the Pesach on the 14th day at noon, and be ready, and eat the Pesach in haste, to depart from Egypt at the sign. Have you ever thought why they have to depart from Egypt on the fourteenth day? That answer we get in verse 7 of Chapter 78. On the fifteenth day the moon is at it’s brightest, so that the Israelites could see very clearly where to go during that night (first phase: start of the month, 14 days later: full moon). The full moon was their light during the next few nights, till Yahweh was Himself the pillar of fire at night.

The same pricipal can be applied to the feast of tabernacles (Sukkoth, which is also around full moon), for the people to see during the nights they stayed in the tents.

WHAT ABOUT THE PREDATED CALENDARS
An Interesting fact that the Jews say they are looking for barley, but their Passover dates have already been fixed for the next couple of years till 2016 as shown in the next table.

First Night of Passover for the Years 2006 – 2016

April 12, 2006*

April 02, 2007*

April 19, 2008*

April 08, 2009*

March 29, 2010*

April 18, 2011*

April 06, 2012*

March 25, 2013*

April 14, 2014*

April 03, 2015*

April 22, 2016*

*Festival begins at Sundown.

A corresponding table of new- and full moons following, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. In addition to this, from 2008 the vernal equinox will be on March 20 till 2020. The dates highlighted are the calendar new moons, after the equinox. The dates for 2009, 2012, 2015 are early April dates.

Year New Moon Mar 21 18:40

Apr 6 3:55 Apr 20 10:25

2009 Mar 26 16:06 Apr 9 14:56

2010 Mar 15 21:01 Mar 30 02:25

Apr 14 12:29 Apr 28 12:18

2011 Mar 4 20:46 Mar 19 18:10

Apr 3 14:32 Apr 18 02:44

2012 Mar 22 14:37 Apr 6 19:19

2013 Mar 11 19:51 Mar 27 09:27

Apr 10 09:35 Apr 25 19:57

2014 Mar 1 08:00 Mar 16 17:09

Mar 30 18:45 Apr 15 07:42

2015 Mar 20 09:36 Apr 4 12:06

2016 Mar 9 01:54 Mar 23 12:01

Apr 7 11:24 Apr 22 05:24

THE MEANING OF ABIB
Abib H24 ‘abiyb aw-beeb’
From an unused root (meaning to be tender); green, that is a young ear of grain; hence the name of the month Abib or Nisan: – Abib, ear, green ears of corn.

If one looks at the meaning of the word Abib, as seen above, it is to mean a young ear of grain or corn, but something doesn’t make sense. Yahweh called the first month Abib, for a good reason, but explicitly commanded His people that they must offer the first-fruits of their HARVEST to Him.

Let’s look at the meaning: to be tender. We do not necessarily fix a literal meaning to the word Abib, but rather a spritual meaning. Israel was at this stage, when Yahweh brought them out of Egipt, a tender nation, a nation new to Yahweh. It was for them a new beginning, a new year, a new life. They were tender as a new plant.

We can also think of Spring as a tender season, when new life sprang out of the dead ground, and all the plants are very tender and sensitive to their new environment. If a farmer takes every precaution to look good after his crops, he will reap the fruits thereof with a good harvest. If he neglects his crops, they will bear a poor harvest.

When a new baby is born, it is so very tender that you are scared to handle him, and all you can do is pray to Yahweh to keep this new baby in His love and protection all of his life.

A tender new year with an uncertain future lies ahead. That makes you feel tender before the eyes of Yahweh. Green ears is one meaning of the word Abib, yes, but we must acknowledge the month of Abib as a new and tender beginning of a year that lies ahead of us, and be tender in the hands and will of Yahweh, and pray to Him to bless and keep us through the new year that lies ahead of us.