ABIB BARLEY REPORT – 2001
The following is the Abib Report for 2001 by Nehemia Gordon of The
Karaite Corner, Jerusalem, Israel. The picture to the left is a picture of Abib
barley found on March 11, 2001 about 8 miles east of the Temple Mount in
Jerusalem. The barley ear shown
here is green in color with the grains showing a yellowish hue. There was more Abib Barley found on the eastern
slope of the Temple Mount on March 25.
Reports from both dates are given below. Happy New Year.
“March 11, 2001 – Abib Found! – On March 11, 2001 an
expedition set out looking for the Abib barley. Participating were Nehemia Gordon, Adam Cowan, and Yosef
Mourad. The first site inspected was a
field of barley near Mitzpeh Yericho, 15 km (9.3 miles) east of Jerusalem. The field had been planted by Nehemia in the
Autumn. Nehemia had inspected the same
field on March 2, 2001 and found that
the stalks of barley were almost Abib but were still in the “worm” stage. When the expedition inspected the field on
March 11 it was found that the stalks had reached the stage of Abib.
Nehemia
and Adam continued on to the region of Alon, 13 km (8.1 miles) east of the
Temple Mount. At Alon large amounts of
Abib barley were found. A sampling was
done to see what percentage were not Abib.
Three sets of 10 stalks were plucked out from 3 different parts of a
field, totaling 30 stalks of which 80% were Abib.
Based
on the above findings the next new moon (March 26, 2000) will begin the Month
of Abib!”
“March 25, 2001 – Abib
Found Near Temple Mount! – On March 25, 2001 Abib barley was found by
Nehemia Gordon on the eastern slope of Mt. Moriah (Temple Mount) in the
vicinity of Lion’s Gate. Not all of the
barley in this area had reached the Abib stage and much of it was in the
pre-Abib ‘worm stage.’
More
barley was inspected in the Maalei Adumim suburb of Jerusalem, about 6 km (3.75
miles from the Temple Mount. All the
barley in this area was either Abib or had ripened passed the stage of Abib and
was approaching the harvest-ready stage.
These
findings are consistent with the previous ones and confirm beyond all doubt
that the New Moon appearing on March 26, 2001 will be the New Moon of First Month
(Abib or Nisan)”
You can find more pictures and also
maps of these findings on the Karaite Korner Website at www.karaite-korner.org/abib_report_2001.shtml
The
following is an article on Abib (Barley) from the Karaite Korner.
Abib (Barley)
“Biblical Leap Years – The Biblical year begins
with the first New Moon after the barley in Israel reaches the stage in its
ripeness called Abib. The period
between one year and the next is either 12 or 13 lunar months. Because of this, it is important to check
the state of the Barley crops at the end of the 12th month. If the barley is Abib at this time, then the
following New Moon is Hodesh Ha-Aviv (‘New Moon of the Abib’). If the barley is still immature, we must
wait another month and then check the barley again at the end of the 13th
month.
By
convention, a 12-month year is referred to as a Regular Year while a 13-month year is referred to as a Leap
Year. This should not be confused with
Leap Years in the Gregorian (Christian) Calendar, which involve the
‘intercalation’ (addition) of a single day (Feb 29). In contrast, the Biblical Leap Year involves the intercalation of
an entire lunar month (‘Thirteenth Month,’ also called ‘Adar Bet’). In general, it can only be determined
whether a year is a Leap Year a few days before the end of the 12th
Month.
Where is Abib Mentioned in the Hebrew Bible?
– The story of the
Exodus relates ‘This day you are going out in the month of Abib.’ (Ex 13:4).
To
commemorate that we left Egypt in the month of Abib, we are instructed to bring
the Passover sacrifice and celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Hag
HaMatzot) at this time of year. In Dt
16:1 we are commanded:
‘Keep
the month of Abib and make the Passover (sacrifice) to Hashem your God at
night, because in the month of Abib Hashem your God took you out of Egypt.’
Similarly,
we are commanded in Ex 23:15 –
‘You
will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you will eat unleavened
bread, as I have commanded you, at the time of the month of Abib, because in it
you went out of Egypt.’
The
same is commanded in Ex 34:18 –
‘You
will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you will eat unleavened
bread, as have I commanded you, at the time of the month of Abib, because in
the month Abib you went out of Egypt.’
What is Abib? – Abib indicates a stage in the development of the
barley crops. This is clear from Ex
9:31-32 which describes the devastation caused by the plague of hail.
‘And
the flax and the barley were smitten, because the barley was Abib and the flax
was Giv’ol. And the wheat and the spelt
were not smitten because they were dark (Afilot).’
The above passage relates that the
barley crops were destroyed by the hail while the wheat and spelt were not
damaged. To understand the reason for
this we must look at how grain develops.
When grains are early in their development they are flexible and have a
dark green color. As they become ripe
they take on a light yellowish hue and become more brittle. The reason that the barley was destroyed and
the wheat was not is that the barley had reached the stage in its development
called Abib and as a result had become brittle enough to be damaged by the
hail. The description of the wheat and
spelt as ‘dark’ (Afilot) indicates that they were still in the stage when they
were deep green and had not yet begun to lighten into the light yellowish hue
which characterizes ripe grains. In
contrast, the barley had reached the stage of Abib at which time it was no
longer ‘dark’ and at this point it probably had begun to develop golden
streaks.
Parched
Abib – We
know several passages that barley which is in the state of Abib has not
completely ripened, but has ripened enough so that its seeds can be eaten
parched in fire. Parched barley was a
commonly eaten food in ancient Israel and is mentioned in numerous passages in
the Hebrew Bible as either ‘Abib parched (Kalui) in fire’ (Lev 2:14) or in the
abbreviated form ‘parched (Kalui/Kali)’ (Lev 23:14; Jos 5:11; 1Sam 17:7; 1Sam
25:18; 2Sam 17:28; Ruth 2:14).
While still early in its
development, barley has not produced large enough and firm enough seeds to
produce food through parching. This
early in its development, when the ‘head’ has just come out of the shaft, the
seeds are not substantial enough to produce any food. At a later stage, the seeds have grown in size and have filled
with liquid. At this point the seeds
will shrivel up when parched and will only produce empty skins. Over time the
liquid is replaced with dry materiel and when enough dry material has amassed,
the seeds will be able to yield ‘barley parched in fire.’
Abib
and the Harvest – The month of the Abib is the month which commences after the barley has
reached the stage of Abib. 2-3 weeks
after the beginning of the month the barley has moved beyond the stage of Abib
and is ready to be brought as the ‘wave-sheaf offering’ (Hanafat HaOmer). The ‘wave-sheaf offering’ is a sacrifice
brought from the first stalks cut in the harvest and is brought on the Sunday
which falls out during Passover (Hag HaMatzot) [Feast of Unleavened
Bread]. This is described in Lev
23:10-11 –
‘When you come to the land which I
give you, and harvest its harvest, you will bring the sheaf of the beginning of
your harvest to the priest. And he will wave the sheaf before Hashem so you
will be accepted; on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest will wave it.’
From this it is clear that the
barley, which was Abib at the beginning of the month, has become harvest-ready
15-21 days later (i.e. by the Sunday during Passover [Feast of Unleavened
Bread]). Therefore, the month of the
Abib can not begin unless the barley has reached a stage where it will be
harvest-ready 2-3 weeks later.
That the barley must be harvest
ready 2-3 weeks into the month of the Abib is also clear from Dt 16:9 which
states:
‘From when the sickle commences on
the standing grain you will begin to count seven weeks.’
From Lev 23:15 we know that the
seven weeks between Passover (Hag Hamatzot) [Feast of Unleavened Bread] and
Pentecost (Shavuot) begin on the day when the wave-sheaf offering is brought
(i.e. the Sunday which falls out during Passover [during week of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread]).
‘And you shall count from the morrow
after the Sabbath, from the day you bring the sheaf of waving; they will be
seven complete Sabbaths.’
Therefore, the ‘sickle commences on
the standing grain’ on the Sunday during Passover [Feast of Unleavened Bread],
i.e. 2-3 weeks after the beginning of the month of the Abib. If the barley is not developed enough so
that it will be ready for the sickle 2-3 weeks later, then the month of the
Abib can not begin and we must wait till the following month.
It should be noted that not all the
barley ripens in the Land of Israel at the same time. The wave-sheaf offering is a national sacrifice brought from the
first fields to become harvest-ready.
However, the first-fruit offerings brought by individual farmers can
vary in ripeness anywhere from ‘Abib parched in fire’ to fully ripe grain which
may be brought ‘crushed’ or ‘coarsely ground.’
This is what is meant in Lev 2:14 –
‘And when you bring a first-fruit
offering to Hashem; you shall bring your first-fruit offering as Abib parched
in fire or crushed Carmel’ (Carmel is grain which has hardened beyond Abib to
the point where it can be ‘crushed’ or ‘coarsely ground’).
All of the above passages have been
translated directly from the Hebrew and it is worth noting that the King James
translators seem to have only understood the various Hebrew agricultural terms
very poorly. In Lev 2:14 they
translated Carmel as ‘full ears’ and Abib as ‘green ears.’ Whereas in Lev 23:14 they translated Carmel as
‘green ears’!
In summation, barley which is in the
state of Abib has 3 characteristics:
1.
It
is brittle enough to be destroyed by hail and has begun to lighten in color (it
is not ‘dark’).
2.
The
seeds have produced enough dry material so it can be eaten parched.
3.
It
has developed enough so that it will be harvest-ready 2-3 weeks later.
NEW MOON REPORT FOR ABIB –
2001
Nehemia Gordon from Jerusalem, Israel
compiled the following New Moon report.
“On March 26, 2001 the New Moon was first sighted by
Devorah Gordon and then by Nehemia Gordon from Jerusalem at 18:05 and by Adam
Cowan from Ramat Beit Shemesh at 18:12.
This is the first New Moon of the new Hebrew
year. In this month YHWH took the
children of Israel out of Egypt and commemorating that event we celebrate Hag
HaMazot (Feast of Unleavened Bread) on the 15th of the month.
Rosh Hodesh ve-Rosh Hashanah Sameach! (Happy New
Moon and Happy New Year!).”
Passover and the first day of the Feast of
Unleavened bread will be from sunset April 9 to sunset April 10. The day of firstfruits will be from sunset
April 14 to sunset April 15. The day
that most of the world calls Easter also falls on April 15.
The English word Easter was derived by Venerable
Bede in the eighth century from the word Eostre which is the ancient name of an
Anglo-Saxon goddess of
fertility. Eostre was most likely
derived from the more ancient Chaldean sun goddess Astarte (mother of god). The word has nothing to do with Jesus the
Messiah or God’s appointed feast days.
Actually, God detests His people even speaking the names of other gods
or goddesses from their lips (Ex 23:13).
On the day of the firstfruits wave offering after
the crucifixion and not too long after Jesus (Yahshuah) was raised from the
dead, he offered himself to God as the firstfruits offering, being the
firstfruits from the dead. Jesus fulfilled both the Passover and the
firstfruits offering at that time.
VENUS/MERCURY CONJUNCTION
Venus and Mercury will come into
conjunction (same celestial longitude) on April 6, 2001. Charts 197 and 198 show the
positions of Venus (the bright and morning star) and Mercury (Gabriel) as seen
looking east from Jerusalem at 10 minutes before sunrise on April 6. Mercury will most likely be too close to the
sun and solar glare to be seen with the naked eye. Venus will be lower above the horizon 10 minutes earlier, and
should be visible to the naked eye at that time. Both planets are in the constellation Pisces which represents the
nation of Israel.
JUPITER IN THE EYE OF THE
BULL
Chart
199 shows
the position of Jupiter in, or very near to, the left eye of the bull, or reem,
of the constellation Taurus as seen looking west from Jerusalem about 30
minutes after sunset on April 6, 2001.
The red star Aldebaran (the leader or governor) is in the right
eye of Taurus. The main theme of the
sign Taurus is Messiah, the coming Judge of all the earth.
The bright red star Aldebaran shining the right eye
of the reem and the bright planet Jupiter (Tzedeq – The Lord Our Righteousness)
shining in the left eye brings to mind Revelation 1:12-14:
And I turned to see the voice that spake with
me. And being turned, I saw seven
golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son
of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a
golden girdle. And his hairs were white
like wool as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire.
Jupiter will be in conjunction with the star
Aldebaran on April 15 (day of the firstfruits). Chart 200 shows the path of Jupiter from April 6 to April
15 and the position of Jupiter about 30 minutes after sunset as seen from
Jerusalem. The line on the chart
between the number 6 and Jupiter is the path of the planet.
VENUS RESURRECTS THIS EASTER
SUNDAY (?)
So goes the title of an article done by John P. Pratt in a recent issue of Meridian Magazine. I have had a number of e-mails as well as phone calls concerning whether the information in this article is correct. So I decided to do an article about that article in this newsletter. The full 9-page article by John P. Pratt is at www.meridianmagazine.com/sci_rel/010227easter.html
The article is very
interesting, but I do not agree with some of the facts. The article basically states that after
Venus disappears as an evening star in late March (plunging into darkness) and
it will first appear again (or resurrect) as the morning star to the untrained
eye ‘precisely’ on Easter Sunday morning April 15, before sunrise. It is also stated that this is a very rare
event and will not happen again on ‘Easter’ for 1,500 years, and that this
event also occurred in the year of the crucifixion on Sunday April 3, 33. (I disagree with this date as being the year
for the crucifixion as well a Friday being the day of the week that it
occurred. See my book A Voice
Crying in the Heavens, 2nd Ed., pp. 80-90 for further
information. But for the purpose of
this study I will entertain the above date).
The first issue that I will address
is when will Venus first reappear to the untrained eye. It is very difficult if not impossible to
pick the precise moment or day that this will occur. There are many factors to consider, such as, the location of the
viewer, atmospheric conditions, light pollution if near a big city, etc. As a general rule of thumb, a bright object
such as Venus (brightest planet and brighter any star) should be easily visible
to the “untrained” eye if it is at least 7 degrees above the eastern horizon at
30 minutes before sunrise.
Chart 201 shows the position
of Venus as seen looking east from Jerusalem at 30 minutes before sunrise on
April 12, 2001. Venus at this time will
be 9.1 degrees above the eastern horizon and should be easily visible. On April 15, 2001 Venus will be 10.7 degrees
above the eastern horizon (Chart 202) at 30 minutes before sunrise.
If you would like to take part in an
observation, and you are up about 30 minutes before sunrise, go outside and
look toward the eastern horizon at 30 minutes to 20 minutes before sunrise on
April 12 (or even a few days before) and see if Venus is easily visible at that
time. If you wish you could e-mail me
your observations. I will post some of
them in the upcoming issue of Biblical Astronomy. In this case we are “searching the heavens”
to see if these things are so.
The second issue that I will address
is the position of Venus on April 3, 33 AD.
At that date, Venus was low on the eastern horizon shortly before
sunset. April 3, 33 AD was on a Friday
on the Julian Calendar, which is the calendar that most astronomy and calendar
programs revert to when selecting dates which occurred before the Gregorian
conversion. However, I believe the
author is going by the Gregorian Proleptic Calendar here, which has April 3 on
a Sunday and April 1 on a Friday. In
any case, that Friday was Abib 14 according to the popular Hebrew Calendar.
The diagram below shows the position
of Venus as seen looking east from Jerusalem on Friday April 3, 33AD (Julian
Calendar) or April 1 (Gregorian Proleptic) at 30 minutes before sunrise. Venus was 7.5 degrees above the horizon at
that particular time and date which was also Abib 14. Venus at this time was in conjunction with Mercury, and is
similar to the conjunction of April 6, 2001 (compare to Chart 197).
Venus April 3, 33
Venus will also be 7.5 degrees above
the horizon on April 10, 2001. See
below diagram.
Venus April 10, 2001
On Sunday April 3, 33AD (Gregorian
Proleptic) Venus was 9 degrees above the horizon at 30 minutes before sunrise,
which is the same distance above the horizon that it will be on April 12, 2001
(not April 15, 2001) at 30 minutes before sunrise.
Furthermore, if the position of
Venus on April 15, 2001 at 30 minutes before sunrise is used for the criteria
as to when it will be in that same position again on “Easter Sunday,” then this
event will occur again much sooner than fifteen hundred years.
As stated earlier, on April 15, 2001
Venus will be 10.7 degrees above the eastern horizon at 30 minutes before
sunrise. On April 12, 2009, which also
happens to be “Easter Sunday,” Venus will again be 10.7 degrees above the
horizon at 30 minutes before sunrise.
On April 16, 1995 (“Easter Sunday”) Venus was 11 degrees above the
horizon at 30 minutes before sunrise.
Three tenths of a degree is very miniscule when observing with the naked
eye.
I hope that this study answered many
of your questions (to those who asked them).
COMET LINEAR (C/2001 A2) IN
MAJOR OUTBURST
Comet 2001 A2 was discovered by
LINEAR on January 15, 2001. This was a
very dim comet at the time of discovery and not expected to brighten more than
magnitude 10 on this particular journey through the inner solar system. In late March the comet had a major
outburst and gained in magnitude by 2.5 (became about 10 times brighter) in a
24-hour period. It is currently at
magnitude 7.3 (the lower the magnitude, the brighter the object).
LINEAR (C/2001 A2) will reach perihelion (closest
approach to the sun) on May 24 at a distance of 0.779 AU (~72.4 million miles)
from the sun. The comet will reach its
closest approach to the earth on June 30/July 1, 2001 at a distance of 0.244 AU
(~22.7 million miles). It is not known
for sure if this comet will reach naked eye visibility. It will most likely break apart as it comes
closer to the sun and as a result rapidly fade before getting much brighter.
The comet is currently in the constellation Orion (light
breaking forth in the Redeemer).
The comet will pass through the constellations Lepus (the enemy
trodden under foot) Eridanus (the river of the Judge, or river of
fire), and Cetus (the beast
from the sea) which is where it will be at its closest approach to the
earth on June 30/July 1.
There will be further updates on this comet if it
continues to brighten. But most likely
it will fade out and become a dud.
APRIL 10, 2001
The Gregorian date of April 10 has been a
date that prominent celestial events have occurred over the last few
years (1996, 1997, 2000). For the
details of these events see the following issues of Biblical Astronomy: April 1996, April 1997, September 1997,
November 2000, and April 2000. Also see
A Voice Crying in the Heavens.
These particular events were a
strong portrayal of the Great Tribulation (especially the later part of
Revelation chapter 19 and the beginning of Revelation 20). This year April 10 falls on the first day of
unleavened bread. If the Great
Tribulation (3.5 years) will begin on or near this day remains to be seen. I am really not looking forward to it. But I am looking forward to the day when the
Messiah, Jesus (Yahshuah) will reign on this planet as King. There are certainly rumors of wars,
especially in the mid-east. The
situation in Israel is getting worse and violence there is escalating at a
rapid pace. The stage is most certainly
being set. But first of all, have no
fear and put your full trust in God (Yahweh) and His Son, our Lord and Messiah,
Jesus (Yahshuah). Let the peace of God
rule in your heart. Don’t be led astray
by false rumors or sudden fear. Well,
here I am preaching, which I seldom do, but felt that I was led to do so
here. I had something else planned for
this article, but then God had His plan.
I will leave it at that.
BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY WEBSITE
There have been many improvements to the
Biblical Astronomy Website over the last 6 months. Bo Reahard, who is the Webmaster for the site, has been working
hard to create a word search for the newsletters. You will find this in the Newsletter section of the site. When you enter a word, the program will
search for that word, and if that particular word is in any of the newsletters,
it will bring up a list of the newsletters that it is in. It is also now available to join the
Biblical Astronomy Newsletter e-mail list through ListBot. The ListBot option is on the website. You need not enter personal information such
as income, age, etc., even though the program asks you for that info. You only need to enter your name and e-mail
address. Those on the list will get an
e-mail when the latest Newsletter is posted on the site.
Bo has donated his time, computer
space, and much more over the last 5 years to keep the Biblical Astronomy
website going. Without his help this
site would most likely not exist, at least nowhere near its present form. I am very grateful to Bo for all the work
and time that he has put into this site.
May you have a wonderful Passover
season in close and special fellowship with your Heavenly Father and His Son
the Messiah.
Yahweh bless you in His superabundance of grace, mercy and love through His son Yahshuah HaMashiach.