"Who brings the clean out of the unclean? No one!"
-Job 14:4
Job sums up the heart of the Father in one clear and concise statement: it is impossible for mankind to spiritually purify what the Creator has determined to be spiritually impure. Although the Word says a person can become "pure" by their Belief in the Messiah's blood, even this the Word says that person must become "reborn" as a "new creation" when they "confess, repent (turn away from sin), Believe and are immersed for the forgiveness of their sins". This is the Good News of Messiah, that "through Him all people can be saved". In this explanation of the Way of Salvation, we learn He's not just a Savior, but also a King. A King with laws He enforces to maintain a peaceful and sustainable Kingdom which is loyal to the Creator. Part of those laws forbid the practice of "unclean" acts like practicing drug sorcery, making false witness, stealing and murder (not loving our neighbors as ourselves). Other laws outline precisely how and when to set aside particular times to worship Him and His Father through the Set Apart Spirit, and how and when not to (loving Him above all else).
"And יהוה spoke to Mashah, saying, Speak to the Children of Yasharal, and say to them,
‘The Appointed Times of יהוה, which you are to proclaim as Set Apart Gatherings,
My Appointed Times, are these..."
-Leviticus 23:1
"Hear the Word which יהוה speaks to you, O House of Yasharal. Thus said יהוה,
“Do not learn the way of the gentiles, and do not be awed by the Signs of the Heavens,
for the Gentiles are awed by them. For the prescribed customs of these peoples are worthless, for one cuts a tree from the forest, work for the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.
They adorn it with silver and gold, they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it does not topple. They are like a rounded post, and they do not speak.They have to be carried, because they do not walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they do no evil, nor is it in them to do any good.”
-YarmYahu/Jeremiah 10:1-5
However, because His People have often failed to observe these laws (opting for non-sanctioned forms of worship through alternative holidays and traditions He specifically asked them not to), eventually His People were scattered to the four corners of the world due to their unrepentant disobedience by borrowing customs of how and when other nations worship their idols (syncretism) to worship Him. Just as prophesied, He later offered His Son as an Atonement to forgive and forget their transgressions and extend the invitation for them to come Home, if they would let go of those unclean traditions and obey His Laws of the Set Apart Kingdom. However, many come to Believe in the life, death and resurrection of the Messiah, only to fall into the same trap of their ancestors: incorporating Gentile customs into the Hebrew Faith, rather than leaving them behind. Therefore, since this diaspora of His People living among the Gentiles has lasted about two thousand years, 21st Century Believers must consider if the Jewish and Christian customs we've inherited from our forefathers are truly "clean" in the eyes of the Father or "unclean" traditions carried over from our Gentile upbringing. The only way to know for sure is to test them by the entire Inspired Word, through the lens of historical fact, and by the example of Messiah and His Chosen Disciples. The Messiah and His Disciples also encourage us to avoid assuming any rabbis, priests or pastors who reject the Messiah, true Gospel, or any portion of Inspired Scripture from Genesis-Revelation will undoubtedly lead us into the Truth (no matter their accolades or credentials). They have no special Anointing or secret knowledge to enforce on the Assembly, it is the Set Apart Spirit Who leads each individual Believer into Revelation "of all Truth" by teaching us to individually understand and obey the Word through following the Messiah's example:
"But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi,’ for One is your Teacher, the Messiah, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth your father, for One is your Father, He Who is in the Heavens. Neither be called leaders, for One is your Leader, the Messiah. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. But woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Reign of the Heavens before men, for you do not go in, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you eat up widows’ houses, and for a show make long prayers. Because of this you shall receive greater Judgment. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you go about the land and the sea to win one convert, and when he is won, you make him a son of Gehenna twofold more than yourselves."
-MathathYahu/Matthew 23:8-15
"Who is the liar, except the one denying that יהושע is the Messiah?
This is the anti-messiah, the one denying the Father and the Son.
No one denying the Son has the Father. The one confessing the Son has the Father as well. As for you, let that stay in you which you heard from the Beginning.
If what you heard from the Beginning stays in you,
you also shall stay in the Son and in the Father.
I have Written this to you concerning those who lead you astray.
But the Anointing which you have received from Him stays in you,
and you have no need that anyone should Teach you.
But as the same Anointing does Teach you concerning all, and is true,
and is no falsehood, and even as it has taught you, you stay in Him."
-1 Yahu./John 2:22-27
"But you, stay in what you have learned and trusted, having known from Whom you have learned, and that from a babe you have known the Set Apart Scriptures,
which are able to make you Wise for Deliverance through Belief in Messiah יהושע.
All Scripture is breathed by Alahym and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for setting straight, for instruction in Righteousness,
that the man of Alahym might be fitted, equipped for every good work."
-2 Timothy 3:14-17
"But we command you, brothers, in the Name of our Master יהושע Messiah,
that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly
and not according to the tradition which you received from us."
-2 Thessalonians 3:6
"So, then, brothers, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by
Word, or by our Letter, and our Master יהושע Messiah Himself, and our Alahym and Father,
Who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good expectation, by grace."
-2 Thessalonians 2:15-16
Comparing Calendars
When we speak in terms of "Calendar Reckonings", we are generally referring to three types of Calendar systems: Solar, Lunar or Lunisolar Calendars and how they are individually calculated. Within these three main types, there are several minute differences which certain cultures and subcultures would have to distinguish them from another of similar calculation.
Solar Year (tropical year): a calendar system based on the time the Sun takes to return to the same position in the sky to complete a full cycle of Seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter) as seen from the horizon (the number of Solar Days from Vernal Equinox to Vernal Equinox, or from Summer Solstice to Summer Solstice, or Spring Equilux to Spring Equilux which is 365 Solar Days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, or 365.2422 days)
-Examples: Julian and Gregorian Calendars
Lunar Year: a calendar system based solely on the amount of Solar Days the Moon takes for a complete cycle of the phases of the Moon to pass (12.377 Synodic/Lunar Months) as seen from the horizon within a single Solar Year (354 Solar days); falls behind the Solar Seasons throughout its years
-Examples: the Babylonian and Islamic Calendars
Lunisolar Year: a calendar system which requires a periodic intercalation (addition) of days for a complete cycle of phases of the Moon to be kept in step with the Solar Year; can include a 13th month added periodically; often begins with a particular phase of the Moon seen after a certain Solar Sign like an Equinox or Solstice
-Examples: Greek, Roman, Chinese and Hindu Calendars
Ancient Hebrew Calendar
The Books of 1 Enoch & Jubilees (two Books of Scripture which were originally included in the Hebrew Canon) reveal the Ancient Hebrew People did not base their Calendar Reckoning on the Phases of the Moon (because it comes in 10 days too soon to keep the Solar Seasons in their proper times). Therefore, because Hebrew Festivals not only symbolize historical and prophetic events, but were also commanded to be honored in according to the Promised Land's agricultural tithing (which are dependent upon the Solar Seasons), the Festivals are required to be celebrated at specified "Appointed Times" (Ancient Hebrew: muadym) based on the Calendric Instructions found in 1 Enoch & Jubilees which are Solar-based, NOT Lunar or Lunisolar like various Gentile Calendars.
"For I [Mashah/Moses] know and from henceforth will I declare it unto you,
and it is not of my own devising; for The Book lies Written before me,
and on the Heavenly Tablets the "Division of Days"
is Ordained, lest they forget the Feasts of the Covenant and walk
according to the Feasts of the Gentiles after their error and after their ignorance.
For there will be those who will assuredly make observations of the Moon,
how it disturbs the Seasons and comes in from Year to Year 10 Days too soon.
For this reason, the Years will come upon them when they will disturb the Order.
and make an Abominable Day the Day of Testimony, and an Unclean Day a Feast Day,
and they will confuse all the Days, the Set Apart with the Unclean,
and the Unclean Day with the Set Apart, for they will go wrong
as to the Months and Sabbaths and Feasts and Jubilees."
-Jubilees 6:35-37
What is an Unclean or "Abominable Day" according to the Word? Gentile Calendar Reckonings based on Gentile Holidays
What is a Clean or "Set Apart Day" according to the Word? Properly calculated and observed Hebrew Festivals as discussed throughout Scripture
Since Moses was the author of the Book of Jubilees which was given along with the rest of the Torah during the Exodus of the Father's People out of Matsarym (Egypt), let's compare the most relative "Gentile" Calendars of that day (the Egyptian and Babylonian Calendars) with the various "Christian" and "Jewish" Calendar Reckonings of more modern times.
Ancient Egyptian Calendars
"The Egyptian Lunar Calendar, the older of the two systems, consisted of 12 months whose duration differed according to the length of a full lunar cycle (normally 29 or 30 days). Each lunar month began with the new moon—reckoned from the first morning after the waning crescent had become invisible—and was named after the major festival celebrated within it. Since the lunar calendar was 10 or 11 days shorter than the solar year, a 13th month
(called Thoth) was intercalated every several years to keep the Lunar Calendar in rough correspondence with the agricultural seasons and their feasts. New Year’s Day was signaled by the annual heliacal rising of the star Sothis (Sirius), when it could be observed on the eastern horizon just before dawn in midsummer; the timing of this observation would determine whether or not the intercalary month would be employed."
Ancient Babylonian Calendars:
"Babylonian Calendar chronological system used in ancient Mesopotamia,
based on a year of 12 synodic months—i.e., 12 complete cycles of phases of the Moon.
This lunar year of about 354 days was more or less reconciled with the solar year,
or year of the seasons, by the occasional intercalation of an extra month.
From about 380 BCE the beginning of the first month of the year, Nisanu,
was maintained near the onset of spring by the use of a regular cycle
(similar to the Greek Metonic cycle) of intercalations,
in which 7 out of 19 years had an extra month added."
-Britannica Encyclopedia
"Unlike the Greek calendars, as stated, the standard Babylonian Calendar was rigorously Lunar: its month always began on the evening when the new moon crescent was first visible
or within no more than one day of it, and month-lengths were restricted to 29 or 30 days."
-The Oxford Press
Jewish Hillel I & II Calendars:
"The Jewish Calendar is Lunisolar—i.e., regulated by the positions of both the Moon and the Sun. It consists usually of 12 alternating lunar months of 29 and 30 days each (except for Ḥeshvan and Kislev, which sometimes have either 29 or 30 days), and totals 353, 354, or 355 days per year. The average lunar year (354 days) is adjusted to the solar year (365 1/4 days) by the periodic introduction of leap years in order to assure that the major festivals fall in their proper Season. The leap year consists of an additional 30-day month called First Adar, which always precedes the Month of (Second) Adar. A leap year consists of either 383, 384, or 385 days and occurs 7 times during every 19-year period (the so-called Metonic cycle)..."
-Britannica Encyclopedia
As we see, these relative ancient Gentile calendars are very similar. In fact, they are suspiciously almost identical to the Modern Jewish Hillel II Calendar honored by most Torah Observant Christians, Messianics and Jews today.
However, Jubilees isn't the only Book to warn Hebrew Believers against the misuse of the Celestial Bodies as it pertains to the worship of the Creator, others have much to say. Throughout the Word as Witnessed by the archaeological record, we come to find that although the Egyptians originally observed a Lunar Calendar for religious purposes, they eventually began to incorporate Solar worship into their Calendar Reckoning as well. Therefore, a plethora of Egyptian Pillars and Temples weren't just designed to mark the time of day and year, but also to honor their Solar Deities, especially during their "birthdays" and "feast days" on days now called the Equinoxes and Solstices.
"The Egyptian civil calendar [a Solar Calendar] was introduced later, presumably for more precise administrative and accounting purposes. It consisted of 365 days organized into
12 months of 30 days each, with an additional 5 so-called epagomenal days
(days occurring outside the ordinary temporal construct) grouped at the end of the year.
These days were seen as the birthdays of the gods Osiris, Horus, Seth, Isis and Nephtys.
They were considered particularly dangerous days.
Especially on the birthday of the evil god Seth, you had better not do anything."
Equinoxes and Solstices
In modern times, the Equinoxes and Solstices are thought to be determined by the amount of day and night made apparent by the shortest, longest and perfectly equalized days of the year throughout the world. However, this is not necessarily true and is not how the Ancient cultures observed or always identified them, nor how modern science actually defines them. In fact, day and night are only nearly equal on the Equinoxes. The days equal or closest to a day of equal parts night and day are actually called Equiluxes. Most places on Earth experience more daylight than nighttime on both of the Equinoxes due to the Earth's atmosphere and our definition of sunrise and sunset, including locations at the Equator! The Longest Day of the Year is Scripturally defined as the day with the earliest sunrise and latest sunset of the Year. However, in most places, the earliest sunrise happens a few days before the Solstice, whereas the latest sunset occurs a few days after it. Also as mentioned, these Solar Signs also do not occur on the same day everywhere in the world, they can differ widely. This is important considering cultures from all across the world regardless of their relation to the Equator have been known to observe these particular Solar Signs of the "Equinoxes and Solstices" as religious rites and customs. However, the Solar Signs referenced in the Set Apart Calendric Torah spoken of in Scripture do not fit their definitions. This is partly because instead of a modern calculated perspective from an outer space visual of the relation of the Sun's relation to the Earth's equator and axis, or from calculating the time of the daylight, ancient people viewed these Solar Signs from the actual perspective of their local horizon. Therefore, they marked these "Days of Awe" of the "Signs of the Heaven" by celebrating the unique days the Sun's position appeared higher or lower at Solar Noon to Solar Noon (rather than the actual amount of time elapsing from Sunset to Sunset, Sunset to Sunrise, and Sunrise to Sunset: Equiluxes, Longest and Shortest Days). Therefore, for the times of the Year during which the Sun appeared at Solar Noon in the most notable positions in their sky (Equinoxes and Solstices), they'd build prestigious monuments, solar pillars (monoliths), and temples to highlight the specific beams of light and shadows cast from that day's particular Solar position.
Scientific Solar Definitions
Equinoxes: when the sun appears at it's highest point in the sky at the mid-point between the highest and lowest points (Solstices) it appears in the sky throughout the year
Solstices: when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky on the days which it is at its lowest and highest points it will appear in the sky throughout the year
Sunset/Sunset: the moments when the upper edge of the Sun's disk appears at the horizon
The Sun's Position in the Sky Marks the Equinoxes and Solstices from the Human Perspective from the Horizon
How Other Nations (gentiles) Honored the Signs of the Sun
Strong’s 842 Asherah:
a fertility/wealth deity; a tree, pillar, image, or grove for solar deity worship
Strong’s 2553 Chamman: solar pillar
Strong’s 4676 Matstsebah: a pillar
Strong’s 6459 Pesel: an idol, image
Solar Pillar Marking the Equinoxes and Solstices
As secular as a Sun Pillar or Sundial and architecture designed to mark the Equinoxes and Solstices may seem to be in our generation, we find this prophetic Judgement for the use of these as "unclean" or "abominable" Gentile religious practices as YarmYahu (Jeremiah) prophesies the Father would send the King of Babylon to "break them into pieces", just as the Hebrews were commanded to do when they came into the Promised Land:
"And he shall break the stone pillars of the House of the Sun [Heliopolis]
which are in the land of Egypt, and he shall burn
the houses [temples] of the mighty ones [deities] of the Egyptians with fire."
-YarmYahu/Jeremiah 43:13
An example of Egyptian Temples built to highlight the Equinoxes
“Do not bow down to their mighty ones, nor serve them, nor do according to their works, but without fail overthrow them and without fail break down their pillars.”
-Exodus 23:24
“But break down their altars, and smash their pillars, and cut down their Asherim.”
-Exodus 34:13
“Do not make idols for yourselves, and do not set up a carved image or a pillar for yourselves,
and do not place a stone image in your land, to bow down to it. For I am יהוה your Alahym.”
-Leviticus 26:1
“Completely destroy all the places where the Gentiles which you are dispossessing served their mighty ones, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.
And you shall break down their altars, and smash their pillars,
and burn their Asherim with fire. And you shall cut down the carved images of
their mighty ones and shall destroy their name out of that Place.”
-Deuteronomy 12:2-3
“But this is what you do to them: Break down their altars, and smash their pillars,
and cut down their Asherim, and burn their carved images with fire.”
-Deuteronomy 7:5
It is no wonder then that many of of these ancient Solar Pillars no longer exist in this area. Yet, of those which do remain, over half have been taken into Rome as Solar Veneration has been shamelessly adopted into the Roman, Roman Catholic and Christian traditions despite the many warnings we find throughout the Word to not follow suit.
Solar Worship at the Pantheon of Roman Gods aka the Vatican's Chapel of Martyrs
One of the most blatant forms of Syncretism in the Christian Church is the Vatican's adoption of the Roman Pantheon. In the day it was built, the Pantheon [Pan (All) Theon (Gods)] was a Temple dedicated to all the Roman deities which has now been turned into a "Chapel" venerating all the dead Saints 0f the Roman Catholic Church, to which well-meaning Catholics pray to for individual purposes... It seems the similarity is absolutely uncanny. Here we see the two part system. A Solar Pillar paired with a Solar Dome Structure to House the Chapel of the Idols. The pillars at the front of the building give off an air of strength and power, but that power stands in stark contrast to the humility we are called to before the one true living Alahym. A humility which requires us to "tear them down", rather than adopt them and use them for our own purposes. However, let's focus now on how this has been used in calculating holidays for the Romans to this day.
An artistic rendering of the Roman Pantheon as it would have appeared in ancient times including a Solar Pillar outside of the Dome which is built to honor of the Solar Signs
During the Autumnal Equinox, the light of the Oculus (circle at the top of the dome) reaches the upper hemisphere of the coffered dome. During the Winter Solstice, it reaches its height. During the Spring Equinox, it touches the base of the dome and shines through the grill above the front door. At the Summer Solstice it is completely on the floor. An important date is April 21, said to be the anniversary of Rome’s founding. This is when the front entrance is entirely illuminated, at which point the sun is at "high noon".
The view of the "Golden Arch" which it illuminated inside the Roman Pantheon/St. Peter's Basilica
The Roman Catholic Church's Seat of Power the "Vatican" also referred to as "St. Peter's Basilica" of Vatican City,
which was once called "The Pantheon" in ancient Roman times
The Vatican Church dome and Vatican Obelisk
The overlay of two different cultural structures shows how Solar Worship of the Equinoxes and Solstices tends to transcend time, space and culture because they are inspired by the same false spirits they are meant to venerate
"Follow Righteousness, Righteousness alone, so that you live and inherit the Land
which יהוה your Alahym is giving you. Do not plant for yourself any tree as an Asherah
near the Altar of יהוה your Alahym that you make for yourself.
And do not set up a pillar, which יהוה your Alahym hates."
-Deuteronomy 16:20-22
"When you come into the Land which יהוה your Alahym is giving you,
do not learn to do according to the abominations of those gentiles."
-Deuteronomy 18:9
"Little children, keep yourselves from idols."
-1 Yahuchanan/John 5:21
"And what union has the Temple of Alahym with idols?"
-2 Corinthians 6:16
Now, let's see what the ancient artifacts and records reveal in regards to the "Abominable" Babylonian Holidays as compared with the so-called "Set Apart" Modern Jewish Festivals:
New Moon and Full Moon Babylonian Holidays:
"The Mesopotamians had a lot of Festivals.There were regular Feasts during the New Moon and Full Moon and on the 7th and 15th day of the Month. The were also special Feast Days for individual deities. The biggest event of all was New Year's Day."
New Moon and Full Moon Modern Jewish Holidays:
"Two holidays serve as signposts for these respective seasons –
Passover, the Spring Festival of freedom that begins on the Full Moon on Nisan
(March or April in the Gregorian calendar),
and Sukkot, the Fall Harvest Festival that begins exactly 6 months later
on the Full Moon of Tishrei (September or October in the Gregorian calendar)."
"Rosh Chodesh – Hebrew for “Head of the Month” –
is the monthly holiday that celebrates the arrival of the New Moon,
marking the start of a new Month in the Jewish calendar."
-PJ Library, "Celebrating Rosh Chodesh, The New Moon"
Babylonian New Year/Spring Festivals:
"One of the most important aspects of the calendar in Mesopotamia was marking
Spring and Autumn, which in turn marked the beginning and end of the Agricultural Year. Like Easter, Spring and New Year were marked by the first
New Moon after the Spring Equinox, around the end of March or beginning of April.
Autumn was marked at the first New Moon after the Autumn Equinox..."
-“The Cultic Calendars of the Ancient Near East,” CDL Press, Bethesda, Maryland, 1993
Jewish New Year/Spring & Autumn Festivals:
"While the Sanhedrin presided in Jerusalem, there was no set calendar.
They would evaluate every year to determine whether it should be declared a leap year.
Several factors were considered in the course of their deliberations.
The primary factor, which overrode all others, was the Spring Equinox.
If the Spring Equinox would fall later than the first half of Nissan (i.e., on the 16th or later),
then the Year was automatically declared to be a leap year.
However, it wasn’t enough for Passover to fall after the Equinox,
when it was “officially” Spring; spring-like conditions needed to be evidenced
If in the land of Israel the barley had not yet ripened,
and the trees were not yet blossoming with seasonal fruit—
that, too, was sufficient reason to delay Nissan by adding a second month of Adar.
Spring should be felt; it should be bright and green."
Babylonian New Year/Autumn Festivals:
"The earliest known New Year's festival was celebrated in Babylon around 2000 B.C. in March during the Vernal Equinox... The festival was called “Kuppura” ("Day of Atonement").
The Jewish holiday Yom Kippur also means "Day of Atonement."
“We have seen that the cult of Nebo, whereof the centre was in the neighbouring Borsippa,
was closely-associated with that of Marduk, and that Nebo himself became,
in the systematised pantheon, the son of Marduk.
A feature of this annual Festival was the visit paid by Nebo to his father, Marduk,
marked by a procession of the images of the great gods,
borne along the via sacra leading to the Marduk temple in Babylon.
A heightened solemnity was imparted to the Festival by an assemblage
of all the great gods in a special chapel, known as the “Chamber of Fates,”
in order to decree for the coming year the fate of the country and of individuals.
Over this assembly Marduk presided with his son, Nebo, at his side, acting as recorder.
The festival lasted for eleven days, and on the concluding day, as it would appear,
the fates decreed by the gods were definitely sealed."
“A special interest attaches to this new year’s festival, because it served as the pattern
for both the New Year and the Day of Atonement of the Jews.
The popular Jewish tradition represents God as sitting in judgment during
the first ten days of the year, surrounded by his court of angels,
who inscribe in the book of fate the names of all persons with what is to be
their destiny for the coming year. To this day the New Year’s greeting among Jews is:
“May you be inscribed for a good year!” The 9 days intervening between the New Year’s Day and the Day of Atonement are days of probation, but at the dose of the tenth day the
Book of Fate for the year is sealed, and the wish of this day therefore is,
“May you be sealed for a good year!"
Christian Calendars and Holidays
In reference to the calculation of Easter:
"This is specifically the first Sunday following the full Moon that occurs on or after the March or Spring Equinox. While Christmas is fixed to a Solar Calendar (and near the Winter Solstice), Easter is based on the lunar cycles of the Jewish calendar."-Old Farmer's Almanac
Again, the Modern Jewish Calendar is eerily similar to the Ancient Babylonian holiday observance and Calendar Reckoning by use of the New Moons in relation to the Solar Equinoxes. The Christian Calendar Reckoning and Festivals focus less on laws outlined anywhere in Scripture, but on all too familiar Solar Signs of the Romans, Greeks, Babylonians and Egyptians. Particularly when the Torah does not assign the Hebrew New Year to Autumn before the "Ten Days of Awe" around the time of Day of Atonement, but in Spring, just two weeks before Passover. Nor does Scripture refer to these supposed "Ten Days of Probation", but is coincidentally found to be a tradition of the Jewish Oral Law (now codified in the Babylonian Talmud) once they returned from Babylonian Captivity.
So then, why do Jews, Catholics and Christians so often follow Gentile Calendar traditions and adopt "Unclean" Gentile holiday traditions based on "Abominable" Equinoxes and Solstices when we are called to be a "Set Apart People"?
Does Scripture ever command us to "redeem" or "Christianize" Gentile customs into our Faith of the Father? No. In fact, we are warned repeatedly to remain Faithful to the Instructions inspired by the Set Apart Spirit because we are a "stiff-necked People" and it has always been a temptation to follow the practices of the Gentiles around us.
"Do not think in your heart, after יהוה your Alahym has driven them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my Righteousness יהוה has brought me in to possess this Land.’
But it is because of the wrong of these gentiles that יהוה is driving them out from before you.
It is not because of your Righteousness or the Uprightness of your heart
that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wrong of these nations
that יהוה your Alahym drives them out from before you, in order to establish the Word
which יהוה swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Yitsḥaq, and to Ya‛aqub.
And you shall know that יהוה your Alahym is not giving you this good Land to possess
because of your Righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked People.
Remember, do not forget how you provoked to Wrath יהוה your Alahym in the Wilderness.
From the day that you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this Place,
you have been rebellious against יהוה."
-Deuteronomy 9:4-7
As it states, it is not by our Righteousness for which we have been Chosen, but by the call to Righteousness we have been Set Apart.
"And do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who trespassed against יהוה Alahym of their fathers, so that He gave them up to ruin, as you see. Now do not stiffen your neck, like your fathers, stretch forth the hand to יהוה, and come to His Set Apart Place, which He has Set Apart forever, and serve יהוה your Alahym, so that His burning Wrath turns away from you.
For if you turn back to יהוה, your brothers and your children shall be shown Compassion by their captors, even to return to this Land. For יהוה your Alahym shows favour and Compassion, and does not turn His face from you if you turn back to Him.”
-2 Chronicles 30:7-9
Therefore, it is not only forbidden by Scripture to incorporate gentile customs into the Hebrew Faith, nor tolerate them as if they are "clean" for those who choose to observe them, but to reject them altogether.
"I know your works, and love, and service, and Belief, and your endurance. And as for your works, the last are more than the first. But I hold against you that you allow that woman Izebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and lead My servants astray to commit whoring and to eat food offered to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her whoring, and she did not repent. See, I am throwing her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her
into Great Tribulation, unless they repent of their works. And I shall slay her children with death, and all the Assemblies shall know that I Am the One searching the kidneys and hearts and I shall give to each one of you according to your works."
-Revelation 2:19-23
For this reason, we are called to repent from incorporating Gentile customs and Gentile Calendar Reckonings based on the veneration of the creation and instead submit to the One Who Created all things by instead observing His Set Apart Festivals on His Set Apart Calendar.
"For since the creation of the world His invisible qualities have been clearly seen,
being understood from what has been made, both His everlasting Power and Mightiness,
for them to be without excuse, because, although they knew Alahym,
they did not glorify Him as Alahym, nor gave thanks, but became vain in their reasonings,
and their undiscerning heart was darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
and changed the glory of the incorruptible Alahym into the likeness of an image
of corruptible man, and of birds and of four-footed beasts and of reptiles.
Therefore Alahym gave them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts,
to disrespect their bodies among themselves, who changed the Truth of Alahym
into the falsehood, and worshipped and served what was created rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever. Aman. Because of this Alahym gave them over to degrading passions.
For even their women exchanged natural relations for what is against nature,
and likewise, the men also, having left natural relations with woman,
burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing indecency,
and receiving back the reward which was due for their straying.
And even as they did not think it worth- while to possess the Knowledge of Alahym,
Alahym gave them over to a worthless mind, to do what is improper,
having been filled with all unrighteousness, whoring, wickedness, greed, evil;
filled with envy, murder, fighting, deceit, evil habits; whisperers, slanderers,
haters of Alahym, insolent, proud, boasters, devisers of evils, disobedient to parents,
without discernment, Covenant breakers, unloving, unforgiving, ruthless; who,
though they know the Righteousness of Alahym, that those who practice such deserve death,
not only do the same but also who approve of those who practice them."
-Romans 1:20-32
For more guidance on what the truly "Set Apart" Calendar looks like,
please review our Study on the Ancient Hebrew Calendar Reckoning here.
How can we keep track of the festivals without technology? If I start on the right day will every year after be correct?