Isn't the Equinox &
Solstice Pagan??
Tracking seasons for agricultural and hunting purposes was 'a thing' ever since God created Adam and Eve and then again when Noah walked off the ark with his family. Since the Dead Sea Scrolls have been translated, we are finding out more and more about history that has been forgotten or omitted from the Scriptures for various reasons. The Book of Jubilees was retrieved through the Ethiopic language by R. H. Charles and was also found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Jubilees and the Ancient Law of Kings cast a historical spotlight on different biblical events, both directly and indirectly. Regarding the equinox and solstice rituals, Jubilees reveals that these times of the year were not only observed but also celebrated with festivals in ancient times. Another group of devout pre-Christians called the Essenes, from the 1st century, kept the festivals and observances of the equinox and solstices in their pure form.
The winter solstice is known as the “shortest day of the year”. This usually happens on December 21st or 22nd in the Northern Hemisphere, and June 20th or 21st in the Southern Hemisphere. Earth goes around the sun once a year and turns around on an invisible axis that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole every 24 hours.
It astonishes me to hear many Christians say that they won't discuss or research rituals or celebrations like the equinox and solstice observances while they celebrate Christmas, a pagan holiday. The equinox and solstice festivals are rooted in Israel's original/ancient faith, while Christmas and Easter are not. Both have pagan crossover and have turned into a celebration of consumption. The early church fathers made it their mission never to have the Christian Easter holiday fall on the Jewish Passover. The calculation they came up with to always avoid Passover is based on the venereal equinox ...
A different way? Was Yeshua (Jesus), not a devout Judean? Jesus was of the Ioudaioi? Did He renounce his family or cultural beliefs? He most certainly did not. He challenged the new teachings within his community that were in contrast to the original scriptures
The truth is:
God gave control of the planet to Adam
Adam and Eve were the only humans that were direct creations of God
They would not have lacked intelligence
They would have still communicated with God after being kicked out of the garden
They would have all had this equinox, and solstice thing figured out pretty quick
They would have established laws for their children and for the generations to come
They would have incorporated the four most important times of the year pertaining to agriculture and hunting/survival.
The Jewish law book, The Law of Kings in the Rambam Mishneh Torah says that Adam ordained Adamic Law. Many other texts speak to the Noahide Law: The Seder Olam, the Ancient Book of Gad the Seer,
The Ancient Church Fathers & the Dead Sea Scrolls, Damascus D9, Tosefta, Avodah Zarah 9.4, [c.300AD], quoted in Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 56a.
~ Murder is Forbidden
~ Theft is Forbidden
~ Sexual Immorality is Forbidden
~ Prayer and Worship Associated to
"Idols" is Forbidden
~ Blasphemy of Israel's God is Forbidden
~ Establish Laws and Courts of Justice
(a fair system of legal justice and
honest application of laws required)
No law was to be removed but laws could be added
When the old world was gone, Noah re-established the laws and added another law:
Do not eat flesh from a living animal or the blood thereof
Ancient Law of Kings 9:1
... thus amending the title to:
The Seven Noahide Laws
God commanded Adam to observe and enforce laws for all peoples:
Utterances of these Gentile laws are found throughout the New Testament
Acts 15:27-29
ת"ר לפי שראה אדם הראשון יום שמתמעט והולך אמר אוי לי שמא בשביל שסרחתי עולם חשוך בעדי וחוזר לתוהו ובוהו וזו היא מיתה שנקנסה עלי מן השמים עמד וישב ח' ימים בתענית
[ובתפלה]
With regard to the dates of these festivals, the Sages taught: When Adam the first man saw that the day was progressively diminishing, as the days become shorter from the autumnal equinox until the winter solstice, he did not yet know that this is a normal phenomenon, and therefore he said: Woe is me; perhaps because I sinned the world is becoming dark around me and will ultimately return to the primordial state of chaos and disorder. And this is the death that was sentenced upon me from Heaven, as it is written: “And to dust shall you return” (Genesis 3:19). He arose and spent eight days in fasting and in prayer.
כיון שראה תקופת טבת וראה יום שמאריך והולך אמר מנהגו של עולם הוא הלך ועשה שמונה ימים טובים לשנה האחרת עשאן לאלו ולאלו ימים טובים הוא קבעם לשם שמים והם קבעום לשם עבודת כוכבים
Once he saw that the season of Tevet, i.e., the winter solstice, had arrived, and saw that the day was progressively lengthening after the solstice, he said: Clearly, the days become shorter and then longer, and this is the order of the world. He went and observed a festival for eight days. Upon the next year, he observed both these eight days on which he had fasted on the previous year, and these eight days of his celebration, as days of festivities. He, Adam, established these festivals for the sake of Heaven, but they, the gentiles of later generations, established them for the sake of idol worship.
The temple priests eventually abandoned the festivals when the original solar calendar was replaced by the Roman calendar around 170 BC. Still, the Essenes and Qumranites continued their observance throughout the Judean Desert. The Qumranites left the temple and Jerusalem shortly after the time that the Maccabee leaders liberated Jerusalem. They were a dominant force and infused the Hellenistic/Greek culture into everything. They ousted the Zadok priests, who refused to go against their strong convictions. The priests felt strongly about keeping the teachings and staying faithful to the scriptures and solar calendar, so they left, took the temple library and built a segregated community in Qumran. The Essenes followed and set up communities throughout the Judean Desert/Wilderness area.
Judean Desert/Wilderness
You can hear whispers of the Essene communities throughout the New Testament, but you will not read their name. If the word Essene was in the LXX, we would know that their names got removed from the Masoretic text after the Council of Jamnia 90 A.D. rejected the Hebrew-Septuagint (LXX) due to it being the text of Yeshua (Jesus) and his followers. This decision to compile and bring doctrine into conformity started in the 6th century A.D. The centuries-long project produced the codified Masoretic Tenakh in the 10th century, a doctrine of works that omitted scripture that did not conform to their beliefs (Proverbs 30:5-6). This is the version of the Bible that was translated into English for us in 1382
"The Samaritan Pentateuch 4th century B. C. differs from the Masoretic texts in about 6,000 places, of which 1,000 need to be taken seriously. Where the Samaritan Pentateuch agrees with the Septuagint [LXX] against the Masoretic, it should be regarded as significant" How We Got Our Bible - by Chuck Missler. Or, as stated in previous education pieces, no one re-labelled themselves to fit their new convictions.
The Qumran priests and the Essenes kept the LXX, the Noahide Law, and the original solar calendar, which allowed them to keep the holy feasts even though sacrifices were halted. The Noahide Laws were also abandoned with Jerusalem's transition to the Roman/pagan lunar calendar (Julian in 46 B.C., then Gregorian in 1582). This decision was a significant factor in the first great apostasy ... the first abomination of desolation when the Greek king Antiochus IV offered a false/pagan sacrifice in the Holiest of Holies during the 2nd century B.C.
The Book of Jubilees teaches that Noah reinstated the Adamic Law along with the festivals to reflect on the Judgement.
The goals of Jubilees seems to be:
1. to show that principles of the Law go back to very ancient times;
2. to ensure that holy days are observed according to the right calendar [the solar calendar];
3. to exhort readers to live according to the Law.
The name for the book of Jubilees comes from the biblical concept of the Jubilee Years (see especially Lev 25:2–5, 8, 10–13). This book marks time in terms of years, “weeks of years” (7 years) and “jubilees” (7 “weeks of years,” or 49-year increments; e.g., Jubilees 1:26, 29; 2:9).
Jubilees is both a commentary on Genesis and Exodus, and an effort to show the superiority of the Law over competing worldviews. The idea is that many of the commandments of the Law of Moses had roots going all the way back to Eden (Jubilees 2:17–22; 3:8–14). Jubilees argues that Noah and the Patriarchs obeyed certain commandments (6:22; 13:25–27) and celebrated feasts (16:20–31; 22:1–9)
Scott R. Moore, “Jubilees, Book of,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
So there you have it. Because of corrupt pressure to conform to the Roman ways and due to Western world anti-Semitism, the equinox and solstices have been discarded and deemed 'evil'. It's not the observance that's evil, it's how the observance is conducted that's important, and to this part, it is none of our business, it is the business of the leaders of the Indigenous communities who ultimately answer to Creator God.
For myself, reflecting on the water judgement that was, the fire judgement that is yet to come, and whatever I need to do to prepare my heart for both is a good start.
Remember, this is not a divine command, instead, it was one given to us by great men who were
either created or chosen by God.
כי אנכי כתבתי אותו בספר התורה הראשון בספר אשר כתבתי לך כי תחוג אותו יום אחד יום אחד בשנה
For I have written in the book of the first law, in that which I have written for thee, that thou shouldst celebrate it in its season, one day in the year,
וגם הוריתי לך את קרבנותיו לזכר אתהן ובני ישראל יחוגו אותו לדורותיהם בחודש הזה יום אחד יום אחד בשנה
and I explained to thee its sacrifices that the children of Israel should remember and should celebrate it throughout their generations in this month, one day in every year.
וראשי חודשי הראשון הרביעי השביעי והעשירי המה ימי הזיכרון וימי חג בארבע תקופות השנה
And on the new moon of the first month, and on the new moon of the fourth month, and on the new moon of the seventh month, and on the new moon of the tenth month are the days of remembrance and the days of the seasons in the four divisions of the year.
כתובים וחקוקים המה לעדות מימים ימימה
These are written and ordained as a testimony forever.
וישם אותם נוח לו למועדים לדורות עולם להיות לו בהם חג זיכרון
And Noah ordained them for himself as feasts for the generations for ever, so that they have become thereby a memorial unto him.
For whatever reason, this observance was removed from the Canon, but the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Book of Jubilees have preserved them and revealed the name of the ancient observances to be Taqû-pā (Tekufah).
This word is found in Exodus 34:22 and shows different meanings depending on the time of year.
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We have overstepped and put ourselves in place of our Creator. It is time to acknowledge the damage that this has caused and return to our natural order. Our individual and collective mental health, our family and community relationships and the health of the Earth depend on it.
