If Yochanan and Yeshua ever met before Yeshua’s baptism, it would have been at the latest when Yochanan was twenty months, and Yeshua was fourteen months old. Therefore, that is why Yochanan would never have known what Yeshua looked like, because Yochanan was in the dessert with his mother until after she died. He then remained there until he was about 29 years old, and not yet thirty. There were baptism (mikvah) pools on the Temple Mount, but the priests were too sinful and not qualified to baptize the Messiah. That is why Yochanan was sent two months before his thirtieth birthday (end of January, 27 AD) to begin mikvahing for the repentance of sins, on the banks of the Jordan River, away from the Temple, in preparation for the Messiah.
On the 20th day of the eleventh month (Shevat), which was February 16th, 27 AD, Yeshua came to Yochanan to be baptized. The Holy Spirit of Yehovah was in Yochanan from birth, and recognition was given to him concerning Yeshua. Upon coming out of the water, Yochanan saw the Spirit of God come down from above and alight upon Yeshua, accompanied with an audible voice. As it was at mount Sinai, and the Temple Mount at Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost is given, it is accompanied with an audible sound, since it is as invisible as the wind. Yeshua then went into the wilderness for forty days, and returned on the forty-first day, which was on the first day of the month of the Aviv, on Saturday, March 29th, 27 AD (the “acceptable year” of the Lord).
The evils of the Catholic Church are documented in previous articles, covering the time period of 325 AD to the Reformation. To replace the worship of Isis, the worship of the “Virgin Mary” was instituted, and the false doctrine that she ascended to Heaven after her death, and never having intimacy or children with Joseph, her husband. Mary and Joseph had four more sons, and at least two other daughters (Mark 6:3). The forty days of Lent, which ends on Easter Sunday, comes from the pagan practice for the 40 days of “Weeping for Tammuz”, the pagan sun god. Pork was eaten on Easter Sunday because Tammuz was killed by a wild boar. Catholicism brought all of this into their occult worship, pretending for it to be a “Christian” holiday.
The ritual of “Easter eggs” comes from the Babylonian legend of Semiramis, dying and going to Heaven, being the mother of Tammuz and wife of Nimrod. She then supposedly returned to Earth in a giant egg as the bare-breasted goddess named Easter, which cracked opened when it landed in the Euphrates river. When she emerged from the egg, she supposedly turned a bird into an egg-laying rabbit. This was combined with the Canaanite custom of male priests impregnating virgins in a cave on Easter, with the babies being born in late December.
Before the priests would impregnate new virgins the following Easter, they would kill the three month old babies of the previous virgins, sacrifice them (child-mas) to their gods, and dye chicken eggs red with the blood from the slain babies. Catholicism renamed “child-mas” to “Christmas”, and moved it to December 25th, the habitual birthday of sun gods. “Good Friday” comes from the worship of Dagon, the fish god, and the Babylonian myth that a half man/half fish entity emerged from the Eryhraean Sea. Catholicism assigned Good Friday for the crucifixion and the eating of fish.
Constantine wanted to “stamp out the Jewish feasts”, and get rid of all Jewish protocols in his “new Christianity”. But by doing that, the best you would get was heresy, and the worst would be an occult. With Catholicism, we got the worst. Therefore, the importance of how the Feasts of the Lord played the major part in the ministry of Jesus and salvation was lost. The Jewish day begins in the evening because the first day of the new month begins with the sighting of the renewed Moon (first sliver) at sundown. The first month of the new year begins with the sliver of the renewed Moon, and the barley crop being ripe enough (called “aviv”). If the barley is not yet ripe enough, a second 12th month is added (Adar Bet) to the calendar to give the barley more time to ripen. The Creator’s calendar falls behind the pagan calendar about 11 days each year, making it necessary to have a second twelfth month added about every three years.
The barley must be “aviv” because it must be at a certain stage to be used as the “first fruits” offering on the first Sunday after Passover. When the first day of the new year is determined, then nine days later, the “perfect” Passover lamb is selected, which is the 10th day of the first month. The lamb is inspected for flaws for four days, and sacrificed on the 14th of the month. At sundown, it is the fifteenth of the month, which also begins the seven days of eating unleavened bread. As soon as the next Sunday occurs (1 – 7 days from Passover), the barley is offered as the First Fruits offering. After seven weeks, which ends on the Sabbath, the next day is Sunday, the 50th day, which is the Day of Pentecost. On this day, the gift of the spirit of Jesus (the Holy Ghost) was given on the Temple Mount, as was the new Hebrew language given to Israel on the same day, 1625 years earlier at Mt. Sinai in 1598 BC (there is no year zero).
Through revelation, King David laid out the liturgy and protocols of the Temple service and lamb sacrifice, even though he was not allowed to build the Temple. Every year, the Spring feasts were rehearsals for when the Messiah would come as a servant and sacrifice (first advent), and not as Judge and the conquering King (second and third advent). That is why in Luke 4:18-20, Yeshua stopped in the middle of Isaiah 61:2, and didn’t finish with “…and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn”. Yeshua (Yehovah in the flesh) came the first time as a servant, and sacrificial Lamb. His next two advents will be as Judge and King.
On the tenth day of Nisan (the first month), the High Priest journeys from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, to Bethlehem, which is about five miles away. He picks out the most perfect lamb to be the main sacrifice, and takes it back through the streets of Jerusalem up to the Temple Mount while the people are lined up shouting “Hosanna in the highest, Messiah come, Messiah come”! The lamb is examined for four days for any flaws. If no one finds any fault, the lamb is sacrificed on the 14th. Perhaps several thousands of lambs would be sacrificed and put into the ovens, and the main (perfect) lamb would be the last one. After this, the High Priest would finally be done, have something (hyssop?) to drink and proclaim “It is finished”!
Also in the late afternoon of the fourteenth, a certain number of barley bundles were tied together to “mark” or identify them to be used for the First Fruits offering after the weekly Sabbath. Until the offering is made unto the Lord by the High Priest, he was to stay in seclusion.
In the next chapter, we correct the false beliefs about the sacrifice and crucifixion.
Herman Cummings
ephraim7@aol.com