IAUA End Time Ministry
Preparing for the End of Time
The Lord is Coming! Are you ready?
|
|
IAUA End Time Ministry |
|
Preparing for the End of Time | |
|
The Lord is Coming! Are you ready? | |
| Home / Archives | |
|
Dear Brothers and Sisters in
IAUA
(ee-ah-oo-ah) our Father,
Greetings on this day of preparation for the weekly sabbath. I hope this newsletter finds you in good health and happy in the service of the Lord. A reader responds: I only have one real solid problem with your final analysis. That is, you appear to be in favor of the possibility of a first month which actually begins *before* the vernal equinox. If that is what you are saying, then I believe this violates God's well-documented practice of giving the sign *first* and *before* action is to be taken or an event is to occur. The sign (the vernal equinox) should trigger the action of looking for the next sign (the new moon) which signals the event for the occurrence of the first month. Is there a Bible verse which specifically states that the Passover is not to be more than 14 days from the vernal equinox or the first full moon (or some such)? I don't know that we really want to be in line with Catholic traditions anyway. ;-) Interestingly enough... Carl Baxter gave a presentation at this Feast of Tabernacles, I just attended, outlining a proposed method (calculation) for unifying the occurrence of the first month (and all subsequent months) of the year across all time zones. It, would use a 24-hour window (roughly centered on Jerusalem) and the scientific (calculated) "siting" (in the beginning of that window) of the first "sliver" after the "dark of the moon" as the sign for the beginning of the month. Part of the issues that drove this issue, and not using a siting at Jerusalem itself, was the fact that Jerusalem is so far North of the equator that persons in the North, Central, and South Americas would be seeing the sliver of the moon for several days before it could finally be seen at Jerusalem. And, again, this would be roughly consistent with the current tradition of taking the sun's zenith over Greenwich as marking the center of a 24-hour window for a unified "day" for all time zones. ----- I responded: I believe the occurence of Passover on or immediately after the equinox determines the first month for the reasons I stated. I understand that you disagree. ----- The reader continues: It is not so much that I disagree with you as that it just doesn't make sense. If what you believe is the way things actually are, then one would be going along basically treating a month as a 13th month and then sudenly find out, "Uh oh, we must already be in the first month because here's the vernal equinox and the 14th day of this month occurs today or less than 14 days from now." Like I said, it just doesn't make sense -- because, in ancient times they couldn't know when the vernal equinox was to occur until practically the actual day it occurred. By the way... Also, if what you believe is the way it should actually be, then the Millerites and Ellen G. White were also wrong -- because, there is no way the Day of Atonement could be on October 22nd of any year in that case. ----- I responded: Astronomical observation and calendration almost as advanced as we have today are often noted by archaelogists and anthropologists as far back as we find records. God's people as well as other cultures (Mayans, Egyptians, Babylonians) are not the savages they are often portrayed as being. With a reference to some astronomical tables I can teach anyone in a day to predict the equinox within about a day based on simple observation. With further time and study I can probably do even better than that. All you have to do is find out which part of the Zodiac constellation represents the equinox. I am sure the "ancients" knew all about it. You can determine with a simple internet search that there are indeed many who recognize that October 22nd was not the Day of Atonement in 1844 (or any other year). There are several important points to note: Ellen G. White had nothing to do with setting the date. True, she did not disagree with it but do you really think it was the time or place for the Holy Spirit to reveal to her something so controversial. Particularly since she was clearly not revealed other important things. You may also choose to bring up a quote from the Great Controversy of 1888 about determining the first month of the year. It is interesting that this quote is in the Appendix which she probably did not write and was not included in the 1911 version. Even if she approved it the prior point still applies. She often said that all had not been revealed to her. ----- The reader continues: I don't think and wasn't implying anyone was "savages" or anything like that -- I quite aware that accuracy in astronomy is not a completely new thing. However, perhaps I'm just naive, but I don't see how anyone (modern or not) can know the day of the equinox more than two weeks in advance without the kind of calculations that are commonly done by computers these days. Again, perhaps I'm just naive, but I thought such things had to be ascertained by actual observation. Call me ignorant if you like. ----- I responded: Oh, it has nothing to do with being ignorant. Astronomy is not one of my strongest subjects either. Basically it is just a matter of working with it a while to get comfortable with the concepts. If you only looked (conceptually not literally!) at the sun it would be a bit harder to know the exact angles but over time you could scratch a record of observations in a fixed rock (sound familiar from archaelogy?) and be able to predict pretty good. It is much easier when you realize that if you look past the sun to the stars behind it that there is always the same pattern for each day of the year at the same time of the day and slightly different each day. While it is a little tricky to measure a small angle on the ground, when you look in the sky it is a MUCH bigger angle and a lot easier to measure if you spend the time figuring it out. Now, I couldn't do it off the top of my head but after a day of studying star charts and making a few notes I could come up with a record that would require only simple observation. ----- I am very pleased when people take the time to carefully consider and challenge the concepts I present. There have been many times when I overlook important points. Nothing is worse than accepting what someone else says without careful examination. Have you carefully examined the beliefs that you have? May we strive for peace and unity in truth preparing for the soon coming of IAUShUO (Ee-uh-oo-shoo-oh) Messiah, the Son of God. Shabbat Shalom,
Frank T. Clark
Next: 2006-11-10 Unity in Truth |
|
Revised 2006-11-10 |