Man-child / Tribulation, 2015 or 2016?

Note from David: I asked Mike to write up an article for us on his research of dates and calendars and possibilities of which spring the Man-child/Trib could begin. I have been careful to say the Man-child/Trib, etc. could come this year or next. Why? Because in the Word we are shown that we won't know for sure when the Trib will start until the beginning of the seven days, as shown in the Days of Noah and the Days of Daniel. God wants us to act as though today is the day of salvation and not procrastinate holiness for one moment. Plus, He wants to hide these things from the wicked, as He said. Still, He sends us signs to encourage us.

In 2015, the solar eclipse on Aviv/Nisan 1 was a strong sign of the birth of the sun/Son from the moon, being the Woman of Revelation 12. Then the blood moon on Passover is another strong sign. This is a Shemitah year, so the economic collapse could come in the fall of 2015. This could be the third seal of famine and economic collapse, just after the second seal of a world war, just after the first seal of the Man-child ministry, all in Revelation 6. This could put us in the time frame for the beginning of the Man-child / Trib this spring, 2015. On the other hand, the economic collapse could be bringing the seven years of famine that starts the Tribulation next spring.

Now we see from Mike's research that the Day of First-Fruits could align with Nisan 17, the appearance of the Man-child ministry in the early spring of 2016. This could be another strong sign. To be honest, we must look at all the possible evidence. Since we don't know for sure, we need to be sure we are ready for the coming of the Lord in the Man-child ministry now.

We're all waiting for the start of the seven-year Marriage Feast and I was very impressed with all the Nisan 17 references David shared in the February 11th Bible study. God obviously chose that date for many important events in the past and quite possibly He has also chosen that date for some important events in the future. As I looked into these things on my own, I found a few things you might want to share with the brethren.

First, we need to look at the Day of Firstfruits. David reported that it has been said the Day of Firstfruits is Nisan 17, which is true sometimes but far from all the time. Rabbinical Judaism has the Day of Firstfruits on Nisan 16, while the Karaites believe the correct Day of Firstfruits is the Sunday during the seven-day feast of Unleavened Bread. That means the Day of Firstfruits can fall on any day between Nisan 15 through Nisan 21. I personally believe the Karaites' interpretation is the correct interpretation.

I was curious about which Biblical calendar date Jesus might have been resurrected on and did some research. According to Ivan Panin's Bible Chronology, Jesus was crucified the year 30 CE. And the Jerusalem Talmud indirectly confirms 30 CE as the year of Jesus' crucifixion by all the signs that happened for 40 years prior to the 70 CE destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (e.g. the black stone came up for 40 straight years, etc. (as we read in Sovereign God, chapter 9 "God's Sovereignty Over Signs, Chance and Confirmations").

We don't know when the barley was ripe in 30 CE, nor do we know when the new moon could visually have been seen by the Jews in March of 30 CE. Consequently, any Biblical date for Jesus' resurrection will be based on educated guesses. However, bear with me and you will see that we might actually get closer to establishing the correct resurrection date than would initially seem possible.

Today we use the Gregorian Calendar, but in Jesus' day they used the Julian Calendar. Back then it was only a two-day difference between the two calendars, but for the sake of simplicity, I will only give Gregorian dates. In connection to past calendar adjustments, a number of dates were simply removed from the calendar to get back on track; however, when it comes to weekdays, I haven't found any information about the seven-day cycle ever having been adjusted for the past 2000 years and therefore we will assume that the seven-day cycle has indeed stayed intact.

In March of the year 30 CE, the new moon would have been spotted either on the 23rd or the 24th of March. If the barley was Aviv when the new moon could be seen, then this was the beginning of the first month, Nisan (also known as the Month of Aviv/Abib). Let's suppose the new moon was spotted on March 23rd. Then Jesus would have been crucified on Thursday, April 6th (Nisan 14) and resurrected on Sunday April 9th, which was Nisan 17!

If the new moon was instead spotted on March 24th, then Jesus was crucified on Friday, April 7th (Nisan 14) and resurrected on Sunday, April 9th (Nisan 16).

Jesus crucified on a Thursday? Yes, Thursday actually fits better than Friday when it comes to a scripture like, (Mat.12:40) For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

But this is a whole other discussion and even though it's very interesting we need to put it aside for now.

If the barley was not Aviv, as the new moon was spotted in March of 30 CE, then there would have been a leap month and the new year would then have started as the new moon was spotted on April 22nd or April 23rd. If we suppose there was a leap month and the new moon was spotted on April 22nd, then Jesus was crucified on Saturday, May 6th (Nisan 14) and resurrected on Sunday, May 7th (Nisan 15). If the new moon was instead spotted on April 23rd, then Jesus was crucified on Sunday, May 7th (Nisan 14) and resurrected on Sunday May 14th (Nisan 21). I think it's safe to say that there were no leap months in 30 CE because it doesn't fit with the Scriptures (too short or too long between crucifixion and resurrection, etc.). Therefore, the new year would have started at sunset either March 23rd or March 24th. And if it started on March 23rd, then Jesus was resurrected on Nisan 17, which this particular year coincided with the Day of Firstfruits.

This year (2015) the Passover is on Saturday, April 4th (Nisan 14) and the Day of Firstfruits is on Sunday, April 5th (Nisan 15). What about next year (2016)? Well, next year the new moon will be spotted either on the 10th or the 11th of March. Will the barley be Aviv that early in March? A lot of times it is, but sometimes it isn't. Let's suppose the barley is Aviv and the new moon is spotted on March 10th. Then the Passover will be on Thursday, March 24th (Nisan 14) and the Day of Firstfruits will be on Sunday March 27th, which is Nisan 17!

If the new moon is instead spotted on March 11th, then the Passover will be on Friday, March 25th (Nisan 14) and the Day of Firstfruits will be on Sunday, March 27th (Nisan 16).

If the barley is not Aviv, as the new moon is spotted in March of 2016, then there will be a leap month and the new year will begin on April 8th or April 9th. If there is a leap month and the new moon is spotted on April 8th, then the Passover will be on Friday, April 22nd (Nisan 14) and the Day of Firstfruits will be on Sunday, April 24th (Nisan 16). If the new moon is instead spotted on April 23rd, then the Passover will be on Saturday, April 23rd (Nisan 14) and the Day of Firstfruits will be on Sunday April 24th (Nisan 15).

God has chosen to let a lot of important events take place on Nisan 17, possibly even the resurrection of Jesus, which seems to have taken place in 30 CE when the Day of Firstfruits and Nisan 17 coincided (this happens on average once every seven years). In 2016, on March 27th, the Day of Firstfruits and Nisan 17 will coincide again, if the new moon is spotted on March 10th and the barley is Aviv at this time. It's interesting to note that March 27th is the date Scott heard in connection to the multitudes of people being shaken very hard and very long.

Another interesting thing is that from March 7th (3/7) (which is the date Amos Scaggs received as the starting date for the countdown to the Tribulation) to March 27th, there is three full weeks of seven days, yet another 3/7.

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