A Voice In The Wilderness   Calendar Page   The Almighty's Feast Days

Years 2005 - 2010

CIVIL YEAR	New Moon (conjunction) Times		A likely first sighting at Jerusalem on	New Year's Day	First Day of Unleavened Bread	Last Day of Unleavened Bread	Feast of Pentecost	Feast of Trumpets	Fast of Atonement	First Day of Tabernacles	Last Great Day of Tabernacles
2005 *	Abib	10 March 09:12	11 March	12 March	26 March	1 April	15 May	5 September	14 September	19 September	26 September
	Ethanim	3 September 18:46	4 September
2006	Abib	29 March 10:16	30 March	31 March	14 April	20 April	3 June	24 September	3 October	8 October	15 October
	Ethanim	22 Sept. 11:46	23 Sept.
2007	Abib	19 March 02:44	19 March	20 March	3 April	9 April	23 May	13 September	22 September	27 September	4 October
	Ethanim	11 Sept. 12:45	12 Sept.
2008 *	Abib	7 March 17:15	8 April	9 March	23 March	29 March	12 May	1 September	10 September	15 September	22 September
	Ethanim	30 Aug. 19:59	31 Aug.
2009	Abib	26 March 16:07	27 March	28 March	11 April	17 April	31 May	20 September	29 September	4 October	11 October
	Ethanim	18 Sept. 18:45	19 Sept.
2010	Abib	15 March 21:02	16 March	17 March	31 March	6 April	20 May	10 September	19 September	24 September	1 October
	Ethanim	8 Sept. 10:31	9 Sept.

NOTE: Asterisks (*) beside the years 2005 and 2008 in the chart above mean that the sacred calendar year will be started one month earlier than in the popular Jewish calendar. See below for Alternative Dates.

Why the Difference?

2. FIRST SIGHTINGS OF THE NEW MOON
As stated in the Calendar booklet concerning First Visibility:
It is not possible to infallibly predict the exact date and time of the first sighting of a new moon. Greenwich Observatory in England confirms this fact. Therefore when setting up a calendar in advance, it is necessary to proceed using all the known facts at one's disposal; facts such as

• Conjunction times in Jerusalem Standard Time (JST).
• New moon-rise & new moon-set times in JST.
• Full moon times in JST.

• First Sightings of the New Moon: The earliest recorded time a new moon has been seen with the naked eye after a conjunction (the astronomical new moon) is just under 15 hours. Normally first sightings occur anytime between 15 and 48 hours after a conjunction.
  This has led us to follow the 'General Guideline' of allowing a minimum of 24 hours after a conjunction for the new born crescent to become visible. If a month is begun on the day of the conjunction, as is the case in some 40% of months in the Jewish calendar, then the month will be started a day early!
• Morning Sightings: A new moon may be looked for in the evening of the 29^th day of each month OR on the morning of the 30^th day. This was the practice of the ancient Sanhedrin.
  If on the morning of the 30^th day the new moon was seen, then the day was reckoned as the 1^st of the new month and not the 30^th of old. If morning sightings are not undertaken, then it is possible that some months could be started a day late!
• Full Moon: Another point to be considered when setting the start date of a month in advance is the time when the full moon will occur. In the two festival months of Abib (Nisan) and Ethanim (Tishri) it is important to ensure that the start of the 15th day occurs as near as possible to the full moon. This will ensure that the First Day of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles (occurring as they do on the 15^th days) will be observed at the 'fullness of time,' that is when the moon is full. If these festival months are begun too late because a morning sighting was not undertaken, then these two feasts will be observed a day late!

3. THE YEARS 2005 & 2008
You will notice from the chart above that in these years AVITW has started the year a month before the popular Jewish calendar. The reason is that we have selected the new moon nearest the true equinox (20^th March) to begin Abib (Nisan). In year 2005 this conjunction occurs on 10^th March at 11.12 hours (Jerusalem Time) and the new moon is expected to be seen on the evening of 11^th March or the morning of the 12^th March, thus making 12^th March the 1^st Abib.

4. SIGNS IN THE SKY
Many believers become polarised about the matter of keeping the correct Feast days. It is, of course, vitally important; and that is why AVITW makes such an effort to get it right. But let no one forget that the GREAT FEASTS (the realities to which all the current feasts point) will be miraculously highlighted by signs in the sun, moon and stars! We will not then be dependant upon computer printout, or the knowledge and skill of leaders feverishly arguing amongst themselves as to who is correct.

In the near future there shall be SIGNS IN THE SKY which will clearly mark out the correct feasts, sacred seasons or Sabbatical Year just as they did when the Saviour hung on the cross. On that occasion the sun went out for over three hours. That was no eclipse by any means; for an eclipse only lasts a few minutes.

Matt.27: 45

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

When the Saviour died on that memorable day, even the Roman soldier confessed:

ALTERNATIVE DATES
The following dates are given for those who wish to celebrate the Feasts in
A.D. 2005 and A.D. 2008 a month after AVITW.