BARLEY REPORT

Nehemia Gordon from Jerusalem, Israel compiled the following Barley Report for March 2009.

Aviv Found! - On Thursday March 26, 2009 we found Aviv Barley in two fields in the Jordan Valley, several kilometers south of Beth Shean. Samplings from these plots of barley were between 70% and 90% Aviv or beyond. Much of the barley we found had ripened past the stage of Aviv. Based on this there will definitely be sufficient quantities of barley that will be harvest-ready in two weeks time. Therefore, the upcoming new moon this Friday night will begin the Month of the Aviv and the new biblical year.

Chag HaMatzot (the Feast of Unleavened Bread will begin on April 10 at sunset and continue until April 17 at sunset.

The following people participated in today’s Aviv Search: Nehemia Gordon, Ruthanne Koch, Devorah Gordon, Dina Marcus, Daniel Pitrone, Baruch ben Hosea, Adam Kinghorn, Bruce Brill, Larry Moldaur, Valerie Knowles, Miri Burgin, C.B. Newman, and Randy Boer.

The photograph below of this year’s Aviv was taken by C.B, Newman. Click on the photo for more photographs of this year’s Aviv or go to http://www.karaite-korner.org/aviv/2009/

NEW MOON REPORT

Nehemia Gordon from Jerusalem, Israel compiled the following New Moon Reports for the months of February and March 2009 and the Twelfth Biblical Month of the old year and beginning of the First Biblical Month of the New Year (the month of the Aviv).

Twelfth Month – “On Thursday February 26, 2009 the new moon was first sighted from Jerusalem by Nehemia Gordon at 17:40 and then a few seconds later by Rilla Auzolat, Johan Schutte, and Anayahu Newman.

The days of Purim will begin this year on March 11 at sunset and continue until March 13 at sunset. This corresponds to the 14^th and 15^th days of the Twelfth biblical month.”

First Month – “On Friday March 27, 2009 we did not sight the moon from Jerusalem. The horizon was covered with clouds. The moon would have been visible if there had not been clouds and therefore based on the principle of potential visibility tonight begins the new biblical month. There may have been observers who sighted the moon from other locations around Israel but we do not expect to receive these reports until after Shabbat.”

New Moon Report Part 2 – “We received reports from observers who sighted the new moon on Friday night March 27, 2009 (many of them do not use phones on Shabbat, hence the delay). The new moon was sighted from Ashdod by Eli Shamuel and Magdi Shamuel at 19:24; from Maale Adumim by Akiva Hoffman at 19:12; from Efrat by Daniel Jackson at 19:25; from Beersheva by Yaron Laluz (time not recorded).

This confirms that the biblical month began on Friday night March 27 and that the Feast of Unleavened Bread will commence on Friday night April 10.”

The new moon observed on Friday night March 27, was 1.18% illuminated and 10.49^o above the horizon at 5 minutes past sunset as viewed from Israel.

The next new moon marking the beginning of Second Biblical Month is expected to be visible from Jerusalem and the land of Israel near sunset on April 26, 2009. On that date the moon will be 3.07% illuminated and 18.65^o above the horizon at five minutes past sunset as viewed from Jerusalem.

The first chart below shows the first crescent new moon as seen from the eastern United States at 30 minutes after sunset on April 26. It is here seen in alignment with and above the Pleiades and the planet Mercury. The second chart below shows the new moon and Mercury side by side, with the Pleiades above them as seen from Jerusalem about 30 minutes after sunset on April 26. The stars Alcyone, Atlas, and Electra are some of the main stars that belong to the Pleiades shown in the blue area on the bottom chart.

The Pleiades represent the congregation of the Judge and also the seven stars that represent the angels (Sheliach) of the seven assemblies or synagogues that are mentioned in Revelation 1:20.

It is necessary to mention here who these “angels” are. The following is from E.W. Bullinger’s Commentary on Revelation:

“In the Pauline Epistles we read nothing about an "angel" as having to do with the churches of God which Paul planted.

But we do meet with the word Angel in connection with the Synagogue; (though not in the Old Testament). There, there was an officer, who was called Sheliach Tzibbur (...): Tzibbur meaning Assembly; and Sheliach, the Angel or Legate of the Assembly, and the Leader of Divine worship, from (...) (shalach) to send.

The chief officer was the Archisynagogos, or "Ruler of the Synagogue;" and after him came the Sheliach Tzibbur; or "Angel of the Assembly," who was the mouthpiece of the congregation. His duty it was to offer up public prayer to God for the whole congregation. Hence his title; because, as the messenger of the assembly, he spoke to God for them.”

The planet Mercury represents Gabriel the Messenger or Announcing Angel. It was Gabriel who spoke with Daniel concerning the fate of Israel and signs of the coming Messiah, and later with Zacharias concerning the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:11-20), and with Mary when he announced to her the conception and birth of Messiah (Luke 1:26-37), and it was most likely Gabriel who made the announcement of Messiah’s birth to the shepherds in the fields (Luke 2:8-12).

From Revelation 1:1-2 – “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show His servants – things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

The angel’s name is not mentioned here, but it was most likely Gabriel.

The moon is Yahweh’s faithful witness in the sky (Psalm 89:35-37 and 104:19). Here it is the first crescent new moon marking the beginning of the second Biblical month.

Though it may be marking more here since this is such a unique lineup of celestial objects. At this moment it is something to ponder on.

The following page has a list of all the new moons from March 2009 to April 2010. J

NEW MOONS FROM MARCH 2009 TO APRIL 2010

Below are the dates that the new moons should be visible from Jerusalem for the upcoming year. In some cases there are borderline situations or possible heavy atmospheric haze due to high air temperatures, which cause accelerated rates of evapotranspiration. In such cases, the most likely date for the visual sighting of the first crescent light is on the left and the other possible date is on the right. In all cases the percentage of illumination and elevation above the horizon are at 5 minutes after sunset on the given date. The abbreviation ill. represents the illumination of the moon and deg. represents how many degrees the moon is above the horizon (ah) at five minutes past sunset. The first day of each month begins at sunset on the Gregorian dates and ends at sunset the next Gregorian day.

2009

March 27 1.18% ill. 10.49 deg ah March 28 4.65% 23.35 deg. Starts First Month

April 26 3.07% 18.65 deg. Starts Second Month

May 25 1.92% 13.94 deg. Starts Third Month

June 24 5.07% 18.77 deg. June 23 1.06% 8.44 deg Starts Fourth Month

(borderline)

July 23 3.66% 11.1 deg. Starts Fifth Month

August 22 7.11% 11.79 deg. ? August 21 2.32% 4.73 deg Starts Sixth Month

September 20 4.64% 7.10 deg. Starts Seventh Month

October 20 6.49% 11.32 deg. ? October 19 2.4% 4.03 deg Starts Eighth Month

November 18 3.29% 9.71 deg. Starts Ninth Month

December 18 3.87% 16.50 deg. Starts Tenth Month

2010

January 16 1.41% 11.53 deg. Starts Eleventh Month

February 15 2.00% 14.68 deg. Starts Twelfth Month

March 17 3.00% 18.41 deg. Starts First Month?

April 15 1.39% 11.93 deg. Starts Second Month?

The illumination and elevation of the moon on June 23 would have a good chance of being seen if it were a winter month. But after a number of such circumstances through the summer months over the past ten years, the moon has not been seen when it was around the same illumination and elevation.

On August 21 the moon will be 2.32 percent illuminated but only 4.43 degrees above the horizon at 5 minutes past sunset. There hasn't been a sighting of the first crescent before the sun sets in all the years we have been tracking them as seen from Jerusalem or Israel. Perhaps this could be the first. We shall see.

On October 19 there will be a similar situation as in August 21. Here the moon will have a bit higher illumination but will be a bit lower above the horizon at 5 minutes after sunset. But the advantage here is that the air will most likely be a lot cooler with much less haze.

FEAST DATES FOR 2009

Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread –

sunset April 10, to sunset April 17.

Pentecost (Shavuot) –

sunset May 30, to sunset May 31.

Day of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) –

sunset September 20, to sunset September 21.

Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) –

sunset September 29, to sunset September 30.

First Day of Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) – sunset October 4, to sunset October 5.

Last Great Day (Shemini Atzeret) –

sunset October 11, to sunset October 12.

Feast of Dedication or Lights (Hanukkah) – sunset December 12 to sunset December 20.

COMET LULIN UPDATE

Comet Lulin did not brighten much beyond a fifth magnitude object. It was faintly visible to the unaided eye near or at its closest approach to the earth. I was unable to view it at its closest approach to the earth on February 24^th due to cloud cover here in Oregon. The clouds finally broke two or three days later and I was able to pick the comet out with binoculars from my apartment complex surrounded by apartment and streetlights. Though it was not the ideal viewing conditions, I still saw the comet through binoculars. It would most likely have been visible to my unaided eyes if I were far from city lights in eastern Oregon, or Death Valley, or even in the country in upstate New York.

The photo below of Saturn (upper right) and Comet Lulin was taken on the evening of February 23 by Jerry Lodriguss at New Jersey Pine Barrens when Saturn and Comet Lulin were in conjunction.

The following article is from Sky News, March 4, 2009.

CLOSE ENCOUNTER: EARTH-ASTEROID NEAR MISS

The Earth has had a near miss this week when a huge asteroid whizzed past, less than 50,000 miles away.

Asteroid

“The asteroid had been spotted by astronomers monitoring the skies

The asteroid - about the size of a 10-storey building - flew past the Earth at roughly twice the distance of the highest Earth-orbiting satellites, according to website space.com.

It is similar in size to a rock that exploded above Siberia in 1908, flattening 80 million trees across an 800 square mile area.

The impact had the force of a thousand atomic bombs, astronomers say.

Asteroid 2009 DD45 was closest to the earth on Monday at around 8.30am, at just under 45,000 miles above the surface of the planet.

Astronomers knew it was coming after it was spotted last Saturday as a faint dot showing up in pictures at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia.

There was never any risk of collision, experts said, but anything flying within 50,000 miles of the Earth is taken very seriously.

The closest listed "flyby" to Earth by an asteroid happened in March 2004 when a small one - 2004 FU162 - measuring about 20 feet across came within about 4,000 miles of the earth.

Asteroids are rocks ranging in size from a few feet to several miles in diameter.

Most of them orbit the sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.”

This asteroid was large enough to take out a fairly large city like Washington, D.C. If it struck in the middle of the Washington Mall it would have instantly vaporized the Capitol Building where Congress meets (I will be nice here), the Pentagon and the White House and flattened the rest of the city. If it struck the earth it would most likely have struck a remote area since over 80 percent of the earth’s surface is in remote areas on land and sea. But it would have been disastrous if it struck a populated area.

There was an asteroid the size of a SUV that exploded in the air about 23 miles up with parts of it striking land in northern Sudan last October. Click on or visit the link below for further details.

www.skyandtelescope.com/news/41873107.html

VENUS AND MARS IN CONJUNCTION

The planets Venus (Nogah) and Mars (Adom) will come into conjunction on April 18, 2009. Venus will pass 6^o north of Mars. This is not a particularly close conjunction but if you are up early on the morning of April 18th, it may be worthwhile taking a peak at it.

Chart 492 shows the ecliptic view of the two planets in the constellation Pisces as viewed from Jerusalem about 30 minutes before sunrise on April 18.

Chart 492 – Venus and Mars conjunction in Pisces as seen from Jerusalem on April 18, 2009

You must know this by now but Pisces represents the nation of Israel, Venus represents the Bright and Morning Star and Mars represents the warrior angel Michael, or blood and war, or the atoning blood of Messiah, depending on the circumstance. I do not at this time know what circumstance this is.

CELESTIAL EVENTS SURROUNDING THE CRUCIFIXION AND VICTORY OF MESSIAH

I saved the best article for last. I have written on this subject in the first two editions of A Voice Crying in the Heavens and in previous newsletters as well as produced a PowerPoint presentation on it in the Biblical Astronomy DVD set. I thought it appropriate to write of it again at this time.

The five bright planets, the moon and the sun bore witness that the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 took place between April 28 (crucifixion date) and June 20 (Pentecost) in the year 28 A.D.

As I have written and spoken in many places, when a major prophetic event occurs on Earth, Zedek (Jupiter) is always in the constellation or Sign that represents that event. This seemingly simple fact came to light through thousands of hours of research. I cover this in the Biblical Astronomy DVD set.

The major Sign that represents the crucifixion and resurrection of Messiah is Capricornus or Gedi (see the November 2007 issue of Biblical Astronomy where Capricornus is the featured constellation). Zedek was in Capricornus in the spring of 28 A.D. at the time of the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Y’shua Messiah as well as Pentecost.

In the early morning before sunrise on April 24, 28 A.D., which happened to be Aviv 10, Zedek (Jupiter) was in conjunction with the star Deneb Algedi in the tail Capricornus. Aviv 10 is the day that the Passover lambs were selected according to Torah (Exodus 12:3).

Chart 493 shows Jupiter and Deneb Algedi in conjunction in the early morning before sunrise as seen from Jerusalem on April 24, 28.

Chart 493 – Jupiter and Deneb Algedi conjunction as seen from Jerusalem on April 24, 28 A.D.

Deneb Algedi means the sacrifice cometh. Later that day, the sacrifice, the Passover Lamb Jesus Christ was literally entering into Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-40).

God is speaking to the serpent in Genesis 3:15 which reads in the New King James Version – “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

The NIV version has “He (the woman’s Seed) will crush your head.”

The main Sign that gives the overall portrayal of the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 is the Sign Scorpius. The Hebrew name for the constellation Scorpius is Akrab which means conflict or war. One of the decan constellations of the Sign Scorpius is Ophiuchus who is the man representing the Seed of the woman struggling with a serpent. The scorpion below him is about to strike his foot with its stinger while the man is coming down on the scorpion’s head to crush it with his other foot. The scorpion and the serpent represent the serpent and the serpent’s seed.

On the evening of Wednesday April 28 following the crucifixion of Messiah, the Paschal full moon passed over the foot of the woman’s seed that was wounded bearing witness to that part of the prophecy from Gen. 3:15. The chart below shows the path of the moon from moonrise at 7:16 p.m. Jerusalem Standard Time to moonset at 6:15 a.m. on the evening/morning of April 28/29.

I did not use the constellation pictures here in order to show more clarity. The foot that is getting wounded by the scorpion or serpent is in the leg extending down from the star Sabik. The foot angles down to the right with the heal at the upper left and the front of the foot at Oph. The green dots on the path of the moon are in 1-hour increments starting at 7:16 pm. You can zoom in on the chart with the Marque Zoom feature if you are looking at the Adobe pdf file.

The three stars Phi Ophiuchi, Chi Ophiuchi and Psi Ophiuchi shown in the chart above are in the leg and foot coming down on the scorpion’s head.

Chart 494 shows the path of Mars from March 1, 28 to June 10, 28. The green dots on the path of Mars are in 5-day increments. Mars heads toward the foot of the Seed of the woman that is about to be wounded but stops and goes into retrograde before it reaches the foot. It then heads toward the scorpion’s head. It reaches the center of the scorpion’s head and stops on June 10 as it turns back in its retrograde motion. June 10, 28 was the day that Y’shua ascended into the heavens to be seated at the right hand of his Father God until His enemies are made His footstool (Ps. 110:1, Heb 10:12-13). The atoning blood of Messiah became a curse to the Devil. At that time the Seed of the woman won the war and a huge blow was dealt to the Devil’s head. But there was more to come.

Chart 494 – Path of Mars from March 1 to June 10, 28 A.D.

Mars (Adom), here representing the atoning blood of Messiah, stayed in that portion of the head of the scorpion only very slightly moving for 10 days, until the Day of Pentecost. At that time the holy spirit was received first by the apostles and soon after by thousands more. This was the comforter that Jesus had said would come. Now it became available for believers to be born from above into the household of God. From that day forth millions have been added to the household. This was a double whammy huge blow to the head of the serpent. Mars just stayed in that portion of the head of the scorpion and rubbed it in.

Chart 495 shows the paths of Venus and Mercury from April 28, 28 to June 10, 28. The two planets were heading into Gemini when they went into retrograde motion and turned like two dive-bombers and headed for the club in Orion’s hand. Orion also represents the Seed of the woman on other side of the heavens, 180^o from Ophiuchus. In the Denduran zodiac, Orion is shown stomping on the head of a serpent, not a rabbit as is shown in more recent planespheres.

Chart 495 – Path of Mars from April 28 to June 10, 28 A.D.

At any rate, Venus and Mercury arrive in the club of Orion where they are joined by the moon on June 10, 28, the same day as when Mars reaches the center of the head of the scorpion. In the correct picture of the constellation Orion, the Seed of the woman is looking up at the Reem (Taurus) right where Saturn is in Chart 495. This is in the wooly hair area of the Reem, the area where the wrath of God is pushing forth. Saturn represents Satan. Saturn was also in or very close to this same spot in the heavens when Y’shua was born. Saturn is between a club and a hot spot full of wrath. Satan is seen here getting his head bashed in on all sides in both sides of the heavens.

June 10, 28 was the day of the Ascension. Y’shua was seated at the right hand of the Father. One of the portrayals of the constellation Gemini is that of God the Father with Jesus sitting at his right. Chart 495 shows the sun in the midst of the constellation Gemini, between the two figures on June 10, 28.

Some think that April 28 was too late in the year for the Passover. That was April 28 on the Julian calendar, which is the same day in the season as our April 25. There have been Passovers even according to the Jewish Talmudic calendar that have fallen on April 25 in recent history, such as in 1929, 1967, and one upcoming in 2043.

I hope that this article blessed you.

Biblical Astronomy

March/April 2009

Editor – Robert Scott Wadsworth <> P.O. Box 2272, Oregon City, OR 97045

BARLEY REPORT

NEW MOON REPORT

CLOSE ENCOUNTER: EARTH-ASTEROID NEAR MISS

The Earth has had a near miss this week when a huge asteroid whizzed past, less than 50,000 miles away.