The Moon of Aviv

This study pertains to properly determining the start of a Biblical/Hebrew year and,
of great significance, the setting of the time of Pesach/Passover. The authors
background is a part of the history behind why there is such joy over having another
piece in the puzzle for all those who seek to align themselves with the Timetable of
the Creator. In this earthly sojourn, I have witnessed many calendar debates over the
years. Unfortunately, most of these debates were not of edification as there was little
love and acceptance conveyed between dissenting parties. Many of those times of
study seemed more like a competition between opposing parties who were seeking
to win. While there was typically a civil atmosphere at these events, it fell far short
of a gathering of believers who were earnest seekers of truth, walking in love towards
all others. And on a number of occasions, it seemed that folks were ignoring and/or
too readily dismissing the clear statements of Scripture.

In light of this history, I say to readers that the following information is provided for
your consideration with no concern for anyones ultimate acceptance or rejection of
the evidence. We live in days of restoration and trust El Elyon (the Most High El)
can teach His people and lead them in the ancient paths. It is ultimately the Messiah
who imparts the light of YHWH in the Spirit from His Throne in the Heavens.

Those who have sought and found YHWH, in some measure, have also realized each
person will be rewarded according to his or her faith (which only works through
love1). Hence, we should offer truth to others, in love, without forcing anyone into
our mold; and we can surely trust the Hand of the Potter to do the necessary work in
the lives of others through His teaching, His correcting, His humbling, and His
edifying of those who seek Him.

When Does the Biblical Year Begin?

While it is certainly true the new year of YHWH does not begin on January 1st, its
actual commencement has still been a point of contention for many years. Some
claim the new year begins at the new moon closest to the spring equinox; others
insist it must be the first new moon after the equinox; still others tell us we must tie
all of this to the green ears (in Hebrew, byba / aviv) of barley in Yisrael. And,
after all, YHWH does call this first month, the month/moon of aviv:

1
Galatians 5:6
 Observe the moon (month) of Aviv, and keep the
Pesach to YHWH your Elohim: for in the moon (month) of Aviv,
YHWH your Elohim brought you forth out of Egypt by night.
Debarim/Deuteronomy 16:1

In the spring of 2012, I received an e-mail from a dear brother (who was passing
along information from the blog post of someone else) and the findings he relayed
appertained to what the moon of Aviv actually was. Having already observed
Pesach/Passover some three weeks earlier (in March), there was not an urgency to
study the information, but I did return to it from time to time across a period of some
weeks. And the realization slowly, but surely came that this information was an
answer for which I had searched and waited many years.
The Moon of Aviv
If one was to view the Constellation Virgo in a colour diagram, it would be seen that,
in her left hand, she holds a sheaf of green ears:

While we respect those who base the timing of Pesach on the ripening of the aviv
barley (green ears of barley) in Yisrael, in Bereshit/Genesis 1:14, we read that
YHWH designated the sun, moon, and stars for signs and for seasons, and for days
and years. Seasons is the translation for the word mo-e-dimthe word which
refers the appointed times/festivals of YHWH. Could the green sheaf in the hand of
Virgo be the answer to this ongoing enigma?
The first year I was blessed to encounter this viewpoint (2013), the moon that year
was right inside the green ears in the hand of Virgo on the very day/evening in which
many observed Pesach: April-24-2017. Readers will see this in the following
Stellarium screen shots taken from that year and month:
Moon of Abib 4-24-2013 (Full Moon Occurred at 12:59 pm AZ time; of course, the moon would not be
visible in AZ until around sunset later this same day):

Some 9 hours later, the night shot of Virgo (when the moon could actually be seen) shows the full moon
right inside the aviv (green ears) on this date. This was/is the moon (month) of Aviv (green ears).

So this was the evidence I saw and pondered across some weeks; and then (realizing
I had likely kept Passover a month too early) a switch was made to keep the later
observances at the time leading up to Pentecost/Shavuot of 2013. It was too late to
do anything about Passover that year (since I had kept the week of Passover in
March) and not starting on April-24. So this switch was from the earlier to the later
Feast dates. It had been a long time since I switched on much of anything, but this
was both wonderful and exciting in light of the many years of debating and fiascoes
which had been seen over calendar considerations.
The Moon of Aviv for 2014 - 2017
The next year, at the time of Passover in 2014, the moon was, once more, right
inside the green ears in the hand of Virgo. The 2014 screen shot is now shown:

Moon of Abib 4-15-2014 (Full Moon at 12:45 am AZ time)

This was seen as a confirmation that we were on the right track.

For the next 3 years (2015-2017), although the moon was not right inside the abib
within the hand of Virgo, it was far closer at the month we kept Passover than the
month before (thus we deemed that month as too early), or the month after (which
would have obviously been too late). The screen shots for those 3 years now
follow:
Moon of Abib 4-4-2015 (Full Moon at 5:07 am AZ time)
Moon of Abib 4-21-2016 (Full Moon at 10:25 pm AZ time)

Moon of Abib 4-10-2017 (Full Moon at 11:09 pm AZ time)

This evidence shows why all of this has become my view of how we are to determine
the month of Passover, the first month in the calendar of YHWH. To see that even
the stars have a part in the timing of Pesach was simply stunning as this takes us
back to Genesis 1:14 and the very Creation.
It is wonderful to see the moon connected to the stars in setting the moedim/Feasts
of YHWH; and this takes us back to the beginning when Elohim designated the
sun, moon, and stars for signs and for seasons/moedim, and for days and years.
Craig Peters

6/19/2017

gematria303@hotmail.com