The Purpose of this Project

   The purpose of this project has been to research, obtain and share as much information as possible on the topic of God's Seven-Millennium Plan For The World. Through His Word, God reveals to the believer much of what lies ahead for us in the future. This is not often stated plainly and succinctly, I think because doing so would lessen our need to Trust Him and to have Faith in our Creator and Redeemer. So the details aren't just "out there" for all to see. Nonetheless, I believe there are many clues in the Scriptures if we are simply willing to dig deep enough to find them, and then to use our God-given minds to put the pieces together in a logical way that makes sense. Will we be right all the time? If our motives are right and it's God's will ... can we really say "no"? God might even give us a little help along the way; and I honestly believe I have received some from time to time. Numerous problems - some of which seemed 'insurmountable' - have just vanished; sometimes after a quick prayer and sometimes after prayer and then waking up with a new perspective. But I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to say that everything you find here will be "right". If this project can get some people thinking deeply and honestly about this most important topic, that's good enough for me.

   The place to begin this project is to determine how Time is treated within the Bible. From the information we gather, a Biblical Timeline will be built. We will need to be accurate; as accurate as possible; using the most detailed information we can find. We will need to think like the Hebrews of biblical times; we will need to view time as they did; and most importantly we will need to understand their method of dating; we will need to understand the calendar which they used.

   The Bible's Calendar is based upon the movements of the Moon, in particular:   the Moon's Phases, the Lunar Month (about 29.5 days), and the Moon's Metonic Cycle (the period of time after which the phases of the moon recur on the same day of the year - almost exactly 19 years).   Of greatest relevance to this project are the Moon's Phases, particularly its New Moon Phase; when the Moon is precisely aligned between the Earth and the Sun (180 degrees), and it's surface as viewed from Earth, is completely unlit and unseen.   As instructed by God, the biblical Hebrews set the beginning of each New Month, not by the New Moon itself, but by the first Hebrew Day (beginning at Sunset) upon which the Crescent of the New Moon is visible at Sunset (source). So those who would look into the past to find exactly when (upon which Day of the Week for example) a certain event occurred, do themselves and others a disservice when they do not properly account for the time lag between the Astronomical New Moon and the assigning of the First Day of the Month at the New Moon's Sliver-Crescent.

   The calendar used by the Hebrews in the Bible is fairly well understood and there are computer generated examples available online. But the more I researched about this Biblical Calendar, the more uncertain I became that any of these computer programs were incorporating all of the necessary methodology to truly create the authentic calendar. The Hebrew Calendar is Lunar based; meaning it determines the timing of its months based on the New Moon Phase (no visible light) of the Moon. The beginning of each new month is to coincide with the New Moon; or more precisely for the Hebrews: at the first visible crescent (or sliver) of the New Moon. Among the various unknowns, the biggest thing that is lacking (for me at least) in other biblical-calendar creators is their inability to incorporate the delay demanded, from the precise time of the New Moon, which science can now determine quite accurately, until the appearing of the Hebrews' visible sliver-crescent of moonlight.

   Eventually I decided that there is only one way to be certain of getting the methodology correct: Complete my own Bible Calendar research to become completely familiar with it, and then write my own computer program incorporating all the parameters that need to be used. So that's what I've done. It was a huge undertaking but certainly worth the time and effort. I refer to it as the Biblical Hebrew Calendar Creator (BHCC). I'll get into more of its details shortly on another page. For now I want to outline which material I decided to include when creating this calendar.

   Other biblical calendars tend to focus on the many and varied Hebrew customs and holidays; both religious and traditional; including both those which are important as well as many of lesser importance. That's fine for their purposes, but I have chosen to include only what was going to be helpful for our purpose: The timing and interpretation of prophecy. I believe the fewer unhelpful distractions the better, which means the inclusion of only the major observances and celebrations; the ones that God deemed important enough to receive special treatment in His Word; God's "Appointed Times" - God's Moedim. God's Moedim are of utmost significance, and prophetic events would surely be positioned relative to them.

You Need To Learn About GOD'S MOEDIM Before Proceeding.

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Leviticus, Chapter 23 - God's Moedim

1 The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'The Lord's appointed times [Heb: moedim] which you shall proclaim as holy convocations - My appointed times [My moedim] are these:
- Here is God's instruction concerning His "appointed times" - His moedim. To state it mildly: It would be shocking if this list from God was inaccurate, incomplete or lacking in any way. We will now consider this information in some detail.

ONE Weekly Moed - the 7th-Day Sabbath
- The 7th day of every week is the weekly Sabbath - Marked by no work; rest:
3 'For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.
- The Weekly Moed - the Seventh-Day Sabbath - has been detailed. Now carrying on with Yearly Moedim:
4 'These are the appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them.
- Moedim that are termed "Holy Convocations" are Sabbaths of Rest - No Work is allowed. Verses 3, 7, 8, 21, 24-25 and 27-32 confirm this.

Spring Celebrations

FIRST Yearly Moed - Preparation for Passover, Nisan 14

A Work Day for Holy Preparation. Not a Feast Day or a Holy Convocation - Not a Sabbath - Total Yearly Sabbaths = 0

The subject of Passover is central to much associated, highly important information. We will begin the subject of Passover by viewing God's original description and instruction given at the very first Passover, in Exodus 12. Pertinent facts we note from Exodus 12 include:

The Passover Lamb is to be slain on the 14th Day of the First Month - Nisan 14. (vs1-6)
It is killed at "twilight". (v6) Literally: "between the two evenings". - NASB, footnote k This detail is important and will be explained as we move forward.
The Lamb is eaten "that same night." (v 8) This is Nisan 15, the night following the 14th's twilight when the Lamb was slain. Hebrew days begin at sunset.
The word "Passover" combines the words "pass" and "over", recounting how God passed over the Israelites and slew only the Egyptians' firstborn. (v13)
God Passed Over Israel (slaying Egypt's firstborn) "at midnight" (v29), still Nisan 15, and then, in the daytime, Israel left Egypt "on that very day." (vs30-50)
Passover is celebrated because "on this very day [Nisan 15] I (God) brought your multitudes out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall keep this day." (v17)
Israel's memorial of Passover is the Feast of Unleavened Bread lasting 7 days, with a "holy assembly" (a Sabbath day) on the 1st and 7th days. (vs14-16)
The Feast lasts from the evening of Nisan 14 (the end of Nisan 14) until the evening of Nisan 21 (the end of Nisan 21) (vs18-19), Nisan 15 to 21 - 7 Days.

Every Sabbath Day is observed from the previous day's twilight ereb which begins it, to its own twilight ereb which ends it. Twilight erebs begin with the waning light of the current day, and end with the complete darkness of the new day which follows. With all Sabbath Days, Calming and Reverance begin with the previous day's twilight ereb leading into the Sabbath, through to and including the Sabbath's own twilight ereb leading out of the Sabbath and into the evening of the following day.

Not all Holy Days are Sabbath Days. Nisan 14 is a work day and it is not a Sabbath. It is the Preparation Day for the Passover Celebration which begins at twilight with the Holy Convocation / Sabbath Day Seder Feast, and for the Seven-Day Festival of Unleavened Bread, all set to begin at the start of Nisan 15. Nisan 14 is an integral part of the Passover Moed, and so it is a Holy Day. But just like the five days of the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread which are Holy Days but not Sabbath Days, Nisan 14 is a Holy Day but not a Sabbath Day.

Clear Confirmation In Jesus' Death:

As all believers should know, Jesus was our Perfect Sacrificial Lamb who was killed as all the paschal lambs were killed, late in the day on Nisan 14. The Gospels reveal this was certainly not a Sabbath Day. When Jesus died, His loved ones had to quickly remove His body from the cross and get it to the tomb, because the Sabbath was soon approaching when this work would be unlawful. - John 19:31

THIRD Yearly Moed - Offering of First Fruits (Reshit Katzir), Date Varies

A Day of Holy Offerings. Work is Not Prohibited - Not a Sabbath Day - Total Yearly Sabbaths = 2
9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and you gather its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted;
- The Sheaf is always waved on the first day of the week:
on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the Lord for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine. 14 Until this very day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new produce. It is to be a permanent statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
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   That the dates for First Fruits and Passover can overlap is of course true. While the date of First Fruits varies, depending on the year and the circumstances these two Moedim can and do occur close together in time. As the fulfillment of Scripture required, this was the case in the year when Jesus died and rose again, becoming "the first fruits of those who are asleep":

          I Cor 15:20-23: But the fact is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man death came, by a man
          also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits,
          after that those who are Christ's at His coming.

   Jesus' description here as the first fruits is no accident. Jesus fulfilled this Old Testament type (foreshadow) of His First Advent just as certainly as He fulfilled all of the springtime, Nisan Moedim. It was His Resurrection which was the antitype (fulfillment) of the First Fruits Moed; the ultimate and infinite "Wave Offering to the Lord". Just as certainly as His death occurred at precisely the foreordained time of Passover - the afternoon (Mt 27:46-50) of Nisan 14, shortly before the Seder meal begins after sunset, Nisan 15 - His resurrection occurred at precisely the foreordained time of the waving of the First Fruits offering - on the First Sunday after the first barley sheaf was brought into the Temple.

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Differing from the interrelated treatment given Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, there is a definite break to a new and separate celebration when the subject changes to First Fruits (v9). This is only logical, because the celebrations of Passover and First Fruits are for completely different reasons and have completely different purposes. This definite break between untethered celebrations is consistent throughout Leviticus 23: see verses 23, 26, 33.
If one chooses to ignore this clear separation and continue tethering First Fruits with the preceding Unleavened Bread, "the Sabbath" in verse 11 would refer to the last Sabbath mentioned (v8), which is the second Sabbath of Unleavened Bread on Nisan 21. This would in turn require a date for First Fruits of Nisan 22, which is wholly untenable.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread, on Nisan 15, can vary by a full month on the solar-based Gregorian calendar; as early as March 25 or as late as April 24.1 Restricting barley's harvest-readiness, which can further vary by another two weeks, to the specific week before Nisan 16 (as early as late March or as late as late April) is untenable if God's instruction to wave the First of the Ripened Barley is to be followed.
The ripening of the barley is simply not going to comply with this large variability between the lunar and the solar timing, and God is simply not going to accept any wave offering that is either unripe, or later than His specified first sheaf of the barley harvest, both of which would result if First Fruits were to be assigned a fixed date on the Hebrew Calendar.
Verse 16 specifically says that the 50-day count which begins the day after "the Sabbath" in question, brings us "to the day after the seventh Sabbath". This seventh Sabbath can only refer to the seventh weekly Sabbath of the 50-day count; the day after which is always Sunday; the first day of the week; every year. This demands the 50-day count to always begin on a Sunday, which would most often not be the case when beginning the count at the preset date of Nisan 16, or any other preset date for that matter.
This 50-day count to Pentecost becomes completely unnecessary if First Fruits is given a fixed date. Pentecost would then also have a fixed date and, just as with all the dated celebrations, there is no counting of days to arrive at a correct date when a fixed date has already been assigned to the celebration.
If God had intended a specific date He would have included it in His specific instructions given in Leviticus 23, just as He did with all dated celebrations. He didn't do that and proponents of a fixed-date First Fruits must answer: Why Not?
For any reasonable person, all doubt should be removed by this statement from God, which precisely specifies this timing: "You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks [Pentecost] to the Lord your God...." - Deut 16:9-10

The harvest-sickle would not be put to the standing grain before the grain is ready to be harvested. Neither would the harvest be put on hold, potentially for weeks, past the time the grain is harvest-ready.
God's statement is clear: The fifty-day count to Pentecost begins with the waving of the first harvested barley. It is to contain seven actual seven-day weeks (49 days), ending the next day on the first day of the week. This is a completely different celebration from the Passover Festival, or its Feast of Unleavened Bread. Do we really need more than this?

Note 1: Because we cannot know when the first fruits of the barley harvest would have been harvest-ready in any given year, we cannot program the date of the First Fruits Moed into our computerized representation of the Hebrew Calendar, in a way that will account for this variability. We must assign the date for First Fruits based on the best criteria available.
   We know historically that Israel's barley harvest occurs in early April, quite consistently around ten days after the Vernal Equinox. Because weather conditions vary from year to year, the date of harvest will also vary, but not usually too much earlier or later. I have opted therefore to place the First Fruits Moed relative to, and ten days subsequent to the Vernal Equinox, consistently in early April. Because there is a high level of scientific agreement that the Earth is currently experiencing a period of slightly increasing warming, I have also included a very small adjustment earlier pertaining to the years we are currently living in. And of course, the calculated date is then adjusted to the following Sunday.
   From the Sunday of First Fruits, 50 days are then counted, determining the day of the Feast of Pentecost, which is also always on a Sunday. The two undated Moedim of First Fruits and Pentecost are the only ones which cannot always be placed in the calendar on their precise historical dates with certainty.
   Many think that this method is incorrect and that First Fruits (and so also Passover) should be strictly dated relative to other springtime celebrations. Supported by reasons given above, I have choosen to go by what the Bible has to say. And as we saw above, the Bible connects First Fruits to barley ripeness and to the day after the undated weekly Sabbath, not any yearly dated one. The absence of specified dates for First Fruits and Pentecost is confirmed in Numbers 28 - 29, which reiterates the dates for all dated celebrations with these two again being the exceptions.
   On another related point, many (almost all) state that there are seven Feasts while, as we will now also see, the Bible clearly says there are three. We will follow the Bible in this case also.

Note 2: Fulfilling the Scriptures, Jesus died at Passover, Nisan 14, and resurrected three days later at First Fruits on Nisan 16, a Sunday, and so He rose on the actual day which begins the 50-day count to Pentecost. It is interesting that, because this was a Sunday and no delay was needed to begin the 50-day count, the Feast of Pentecost occurred precisely 50 days (inclusively counted, representing One Jubilee) after Jesus' resurrection. If He had risen on any other day of the week this would not have been the case. Because Nisan 16 is a Sunday in 33AD, and it is not a Sunday in the nearby surrounding years (from 14AD to 36AD), this is another evidence for 33AD as the year of Jesus' death.
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Footnote:
1. https://jaysage.org/Passover_Dates.pdf

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FOURTH Yearly Moed - Feast (2) of Weeks / Pentecost (Shavuot), Date Varies

A Feast Day. A Holy Convocation With No Work - a Sabbath Day - Total Yearly Sabbaths = 3
- Called the Feast of Weeks in Deut 16:10.
- This occurs 7 complete actual weeks plus 1 day after First Fruits:
15 'You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths.
- Counting 50 days from First Fruits ALWAYS brings us to the first day of the week for Pentecost, meaning that First Fruits CANNOT have a set date:
16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread as a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to the Lord. 18 Along with the bread you shall present seven one-year-old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd and two rams; they are to be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord. 19 You shall also offer one male goat as a sin offering, and two male lambs one year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering with two lambs before the Lord; they are to be holy to the Lord for the priest.
- As with all three feasts, this Feast is a Sabbath Day:
21 On this very day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a permanent statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.
22 'When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the stranger. I am the Lord your God.'"

God's Perfect 7

SEVENTH Yearly Moed - Feast (3) of Booths (Sukkot), Tishrei 15 - 22

The Fall 8-Day Feast. 2 Holy Convocations with No Work - Sabbath Days (15 & 22) - Total Yearly Sabbaths = 7
- aka Feast of Tabernacles; Feast of Ingathering
33 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the Lord.
- Sabbath Day Tishrei 15:
35 On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work. 36 For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord.
- Also: multiple offerings are to be made on each of the 8 days; - Num 29:1-6
- Sabbath Day Tishrei 22:
On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the Lord; it is an assembly. You shall not do any laborious work.
- These are God's Moeds of utmost importance and relevance. No more. No fewer:
37 'These are the appointed times of the Lord which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, to present offerings by fire to the Lord-burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each day's matter on its own day- 38 besides those of the Sabbaths of the Lord, and besides your gifts and besides all your vowed and voluntary offerings, which you give to the Lord.
39 'On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day. 40 Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and branches of trees with thick branches and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 So you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, 43 so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.'" 44 So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of the Lord.
- Again, Leviticus 23 has delineated "the appointed times [the moedim] of the Lord." These are the Times of highest significance and none would have been omitted. There are precisely God's Perfect-7 Moedim, incorporating precisely God's Perfect-7 Sabbaths, and three of these Moedim are Feasts.
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As Leviticus 23 has shown us . . .
In His Covenant with Israel, God instituted Seven Yearly Moedim which incorporate Seven Yearly Sabbaths.
Three especially significant Moedim were designated and celebrated as Feasts, and Two of those were also Festivals.
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More Information

There Are THREE Yearly Feasts, not Seven as Proclaimed by Many:

Exodus 23:14-17 "Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me." [Case Closed!] You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread [following the Passover]; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. And no one is to appear before Me empty-handed. Also you shall keep the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits [Feast of Weeks/Shavuot/Pentecost; 50 days after First Fruits] of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering [Feast of Booths/Tabernacles/Sukkot] at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.

Leviticus 23:2 - God's purpose in Leviticus 23 was stated to Moses clearly in verse 2: "The Lord's appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations - My appointed times are these." It wasn't "some of my appointed times"; it was "my appointed times". And did God then proceed to designate only three of what are actually seven Feasts? I don't believe so.

2 Chronicles 8:12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built in front of the porch; 13 and he did so according to the daily rule, offering them up according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the three annual feasts - the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths.

Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths; and they are not to appear before the Lord empty-handed.

1 Kings 9:25 Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for the Lord, burning incense with them on the altar which was before the Lord. So he finished the house. [the First Temple]

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SIXTH Yearly Moed - Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), Tishrei 10

A Day of Sacrifice for Past Sins. A Holy Convocation With No Work - a Sabbath Day - Total Yearly Sabbaths = 5
- This is a Sabbath Day:
26 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 "On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble yourselves and present an offering by fire to the Lord. 28 You shall not do any work on this very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. 29 If there is any person who does not humble himself on this very day, he shall be cut off from his people. 30 As for any person who does any work on this very day, that person I will eliminate from among his people. 31 You shall not do any work. It is to be a permanent statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves; on the ninth of the month at evening, ["ereb" twilight] from evening ["ereb" twilight] until evening, ["ereb" twilight] you shall keep your Sabbath."
- If these "erebs" are understood as "evening" and not "twilight" (as they are described above), verse 32 has just placed Yom Kippur on the 9th of Tishrei, contradicting verse 27. Correctly understanding these "erebs" to be "twilights", the ending of the Hebrew day, does not create this contradiction.
- Multiple offerings are also to be given on this Day of Atonement; - Num 29:7-11

5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Lord's Passover.

   The work of preparing the sacrificial lamb and preparing for the Seder meal to follow, is done on Nisan 14, prior to the Passover Celebration beginning at "twilight". Passover's Seder Meal will then begin the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, and occurs at the start of Nisan 15. Being a day of preparation work, Nisan 14 Is Not A Sabbath, and God never gives any indication to the contrary. So then what is Passover? This has been a source of confusion which we will deal with here.

   Passover is often mistakenly thought of as a Day of Passover - Passover all day long - when it is in fact a commemoration of an original brief event - the Passover - which took place at midnight, about six hours into Nisan 15. (Ex 12:29) God's Angel "Passed Over" the Israelites in the middle of the night on Nisan 15; with the Hebrews safe from the Destroying Angel, gathered in their protected homes, having brushed their doorposts and lintels with the blood of the sacrificial lamb.

   Verse 5's "at twilight" refers to the time of interchange between Nisan 14 and the following day, Nisan 15 which begins at sunset - a time which could not be predetermined with precision. Similar treatment is found regarding the Day of Atonement in verses 26-32.

   How "twilight", "evening" and "even" are treated in scripture can be confusing, and I will try to explain as best I can. These words all derive from the Hebrew "ereb" which generally refers to the evening hours of the 24-hour day; at the start of a New Hebrew Day at Sunset. The "evening" understanding of "ereb" occurs at the start of the Hebrew day. But "ereb" also has a second meaning which refers to the short stretch of time during the transition from daytime to nighttime; when the present Hebrew day is drawing to a close, with a new day about to begin. We saw this exampled in the Exodus 12 passage above. In order to distinguish between these two related but very different meanings, the NASB sometimes uses "twilight" to convey the latter meaning of "ereb" - the day drawing to a close. This isn't done consistently however, and the reader must take care to gain the correct understanding.

   So how can we know whether "ereb" is indicating "evening", the first part of the Hebrew Day, or "twilight", the transition at the end of the Hebrew Day? This can only be done through comparison of scripture, while considering the context of the passage being read.

   An example where this could be confusing is this verse 5 of Leviticus 23: "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at 'ereb' is the Lord's Passover." Taking this verse in isolation and assuming the first, more common "evening" meaning of "ereb", the verse would be telling the reader that the Lord's Passover Celebration begins at the beginning of Nisan 14, not at its end. From other scriptures we know that Passover begins at the end of the 14th, and that it is then immediately celebrated by the Seder meal, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the start of Nisan 15. And so "twilight" is the correct understanding of "ereb" in verse 5.

   There is a good example of the "twilight" meaning of "ereb" just a little further on in Leviticus 23. Read verses 26 to 32 which speak of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, occurring in the 7th month, Tishrei. The passage is clear that this is on the 10th day of the month, and then verse 32 tells us this holy day extends from "... the ninth of the month at "ereb", from "ereb" until "ereb" you shall keep your Sabbath." Certainly, verse 32's meaning of "ereb" is "twilight", the transition at the end of the day. To understand it to mean "evening" which begins the day, would be to have verse 32 tell us that the Day of Atonement is on Tishrei 9, when the passage has just made it clear that it's on Tishrei 10.

   The New Testament also contains an excellent example of the two Hebrew meanings of "evening". Read John chapter 20. Here are the cliffsnotes:

Remember that the Hebrews' day begins and ends at sunset, and the "evening" is at the start of the day.
Jesus resurrected on the First Day of the Week, almost half way through the day, shortly before sunrise and well after the "evening" start of the day - John 20:1
"Now when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week ... Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, "Peace be to you."" - John 20:19
Clearly the "evening" in verse 19 must be understood to be at the day's ending - the "twilight" - of the first day of the week. If we understand it as the "evening" start of the day, we are left with Jesus meeting with His disciples prior to His resurrection.

The Passover's Preparation Day and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are Related but Separate. Nisan 14 - the Preparation Day - is the working day to get ready for the the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the seven-day event of Passover-Celebration. The seven-day celebration begins with reverence at Nisan 14's "twilight" at the end of the day, and with the Seder Meal at Nisan 15's "evening", the start of the day. The Holy Convocation (Sabbath) of the Seder Meal begins the seven-day Feast which ends with another Holy Convocation on Nisan 21:

7000 Years Revealed In The Sabbath

Sabbath (from Hebrew shabbat or shabbāth, שַׁבָּת) Absent theological nuance, the grammatical definition of this Hebrew word comes from the verbal root שׁבת (shavat), which means: to cease, to stop, to desist, to rest from activity. In the same way that "God ... rested (shavat) from all His work." (Genesis 2:2), a person can shavat from any activity -- such as taking an afternoon nap -- and then begin doing something else -- such as repairing a broken chair in the shop. Shavat does not mean "to do nothing at all." It only describes the ending of whatever action was previously taking place.

So, in everyday Hebrew usage, a person could absolutely "shavat from napping," meaning "stop napping," and then move on to another task. Nothing in the verb itself restricts it to spiritual or theological contexts. Shavat is about stopping one thing, not refraining from all things:

Genesis 2:2: "God ... rested (shavat) from all his work." - Here it simply means God ceased the work of creation -- Creation was complete.
Joshua 5:12: "And the manna ceased (shavat)…." - Same verb, meaning the manna stopped appearing. It doesn't mean nothing else happened.
Lamentations 5:14: "Elders are absent (shavat) from the gate...." - Again, straightforward "stopping" of an activity -- the elders stopped being at the gate.

In the Bible, Old Covenant Sabbath meant the cessation of regular activities and normal routine in order to focus on God's goodness and holiness. It emphasized not merely physical relaxation but a deliberate reordering of life around God. Sabbath was meant to be much more than simple rest. It was to be a sacred time in which God's people were to remind themselves of their great and powerful God. One would have broken sabbath not only by performing disallowed activity, but also by unnecessarily occupying one's time and attention in ways not focused upon God's sovereignty over their life -- not acting in accordance with the way that the individual day they were living demanded.

The heart of Sabbath is devotion to God, and ideally Sabbath was to be a constant state of being in the lives of believers -- a continual posture of resting in God's completed work while ceasing from one's own work and self-reliance (Hebrews 4:9-10). And even though the Old Covenant was far from ideal, this intent is clearly present. The Old Covenant, including its Sabbath, was typological, pointing to something -- SomeOne -- far greater than itself, and it has now found its fulfillment and replacement in Jesus our Redeemer (Isaiah 30:15; Matthew 11:28-30; Colossians 2:16-17). As Christians, our Sabbath is now in Jesus.

Sabbath was always meant to be a constant state of being, exhibiting one's rest in and reliance upon God. Living on this physical plane called Earth, the practical degree of Sabbath on any given day could be lower or higher depending upon what the day demanded. So it was that God set aside His appointed times -- His moedim -- explicitly defining Sabbath requirements for each and every day.

The Bible's Six Rhythms Foreshadowing God's True Sabbath

#1. The Daily Rhythm -- Every Day Without Exception

Numbers 28:1-8 1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Command the sons of Israel and say to them, 'You shall be careful to present to Me My offering, My food for My offerings by fire, of a soothing aroma to Me, at their appointed time.' 3 And you shall say to them, 'This is the offering by fire which you shall offer to the Lord: two male lambs one year old without defect as a continual burnt offering every day. 4 You shall offer the one lamb in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; 5 also a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with a fourth of a hin of pure oil. 6 It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained on Mount Sinai as a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. 7 Then the drink offering with it shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb; in the Holy Place pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the Lord. 8 The other lamb you shall offer at twilight; as the grain offering of the morning and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the Lord.
     - Beginning with the Daily, all sacrifice took place at God's appointed time (moed, compare Leviticus 23), and all were significant and sacred -- moedim.
     - Sacrifice was appointed for every day, and there was to be a continual burnt offering, an uninterrupted soothing aroma to the Lord.
     - The pattern was one of unending Sabbath between God and His people, interspersed with set recurring times of official recognition and observance.
     - The Daily Sacrifice required both a morning and an evening shavat -- twice every day the people were reminded that a lamb was dying to atone for their sin.
     - But as the daily sacrifice also showed, not every appointed time required continuous, day-long rest and cessation.
        - With its limited shavat and the people continuing their ordinary work, the Daily was not an official Sabbath celebration.
     - Daily sacrifice was performed every day, regardless of any other sacrifices that may also have been scheduled for the day.
     - The Daily sacrifice required the bloodshed and death of 2 lambs every day: over 700 lambs each year, picturing the eternal and unchanging nature of God.
        - This was the most yearly sacrifice of all the sabbath rhythms.

The Three Primary Rhythms of Sabbath

As the one true God is revealed in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit -- three distinct Persons sharing one divine essence -- so the single, God-given purpose of Sabbath in the Old Covenant -- God revealing Himself -- was represented primarily through three chosen rhythms: Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly. As with God, each rhythm has its own distinct role and emphasis, yet all are equally sacred. All three are set apart as holy, each commemorating another aspect of God's greatness, and each accompanied by its own level of appointed sacrificial offerings. As Scripture shows, these offerings increase in proportion to their interval of observance and, for the yearly, their lateness in the year, with longer intervals and later occurrances demanding greater severity, covenantal obligation, reverence and solemness before the Lord. And yet the severity of sacrifice is the opposite when viewed over the entire year -- lesser sacrifice can add up to more sacrifice -- as if to remove any doubt that all appointed times are equally sacred.

2 Chronicles 31:3 [The righteous King Hezekiah] also appointed ... the [Dailly] morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the [Weekly] Sabbaths and for the [Monthly] new moons and for the [Yearly] appointed festivals, as it is written in the Law of the Lord.

#2. The Weekly Rhythm -- The Calendar Week's Seventh-Day Sabbath

Exodus 20:8-11 8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 For six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work.... 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
     - The Seventh Day of the Week was chosen by God to represent all the days of the week.
     - Weekly Sabbath commemorated Creation (ref ref), ultimately turning focus towards the True Rest available in Jesus Creator and Redeemer (ref).
     - It was a day of "complete rest" (Exodus 31:15) as Jesus rested after completing Creation, and as we can now rest in His completed work of Redemption.

Numbers 28:9-10 9 'Then on the [Weekly] Sabbath day two male lambs one year old without defect, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and its drink offering: 10 This is the burnt offering of every Sabbath in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.
     - Weekly sacrifice was performed every 7th day of the week, regardless of any other sacrifices that may have also been scheduled for that day.
     - Sacrifice dedicated to the Weekly Sabbath was the same as for every day of the week: 2 lambs each sabbath: over 100 lambs each year.
     - Notice that the command not to work isn't given here. It was already clear, and had been given elsewhere in Scripture.
     - Notice that the grain and drink offerings aren't given definitively -- because they were already defined under the Daily.
        - The point being: Not everything is fully stated at every biblical passage which discusses a given topic.

The Weekly Sabbath was the foundational rhythm of sacred time in Scripture, instituted at creation and embedded in Israel's Old Covenant Law. God's command was explicit: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." (Exodus 20:8). Israel was required to cease ordinary labor on the seventh day, modeling God's own rest after creation: "In it you shall not do any work...." (Exodus 20:10).

The 7th-day sabbath functioned as a covenant sign between God and Israel (Exodus 31:16-17), marking them as a people who lived by trust rather than perpetual labor. Because it was weekly, visible, and socially reinforcing, it became the most deeply ingrained of all Israel's sacred times and was referred to as simply "the Sabbath."

Historically, the Weekly Sabbath showed the strongest and most consistent pattern of observance. Even when violated, it remained a central identity marker throughout Israel's history. Prophets repeatedly rebuked Sabbath-breaking (Jeremiah 17:21-27), and post-exilic reforms placed strong emphasis on its enforcement (Nehemiah 13:15-22). By the Second Temple period, Sabbath observance had become one of the defining practices of Jewish life. Compared to the other rhythms of sabbath, the Weekly Sabbath exhibits the highest degree of sustained fidelity by Israel.

#3. The Monthly Rhythm -- The Calendar Month's First-Day Sabbath

1 Samuel 20:5-27 5 So David said to Jonathan, "Behold, tomorrow is the new moon [chodesh], and I am obligated to sit down to eat with the king." ... 27 But it came about the next day, the second day of the new moon [chodesh; new moon or month; translated month in the KJV]....
     - Calendar Months are determined by the New Moon. In fact the Hebrew word "chodesh" means both "new moon" and "month".
     - David's obligation to eat with the king is a ceasing from normal activity, a shavat -- a degree of sabbath.

Numbers 10:10 Also on the day of your joy and at your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the Lord your God."
     - The Yearly and the Monthly received the same type of treatment, reverence and covenantal obligation.
     - Monthly observance centered on the New Moon, which began each new month and was accompanied by trumpet blasts and sacrifices.
        - The explicit command for the blowing of trumpets denotes a "step up" from the Daily and Weekly, which do not receive this command.

Amos 8:4-5 4 Hear this, you who trample the needy, to put an end to the humble of the land, 5 saying, "When will the new moon be over, So that we may sell grain; And the Sabbath, so that we may open the wheat market, To make the ephah smaller and the shekel bigger, And to cheat with dishonest scales...."
     - The New Moon was a sacred interruption -- a shavat -- from ordinary economic activity, and was often paired conceptually with the Weekly Sabbath.
     - God's warning to those who profane sabbath confirms that both the New Moon and the Sabbath Day disallowed degrees of work and commerce.

Numbers 28:11-15 11 'Then at the beginning of each of your months you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls and one ram, seven male lambs one year old without defect.... 13 ...a burnt offering of a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. 14 ...this is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. 15 And one male goat as a sin offering....
     - The First Day of the Month was chosen by God to represent all the days of the month.
     - Sacrifice dedicated to the Monthly Sabbath was 2 bulls, 1 ram, 7 lambs, 1 goat each month: over 135 animals each year.
     - Monthly sacrifice was far more than at the Weekly, taking much more life and spilling much more blood (7 times more in God's eyes?).
     - The Monthly is the first of the Sabbath rhythms to include the sacrifice of a goat as a sin offering -- the atonement made for sin.
        - These denote an obviously increased gravity -- solemnity and covenantal obligation -- of the Monthly over the Weekly.

Historically, the Monthly Sabbath observances were clearly integrated into Israel's worship calendar and temple system, and they functioned as regular communal markers of sacred time. While less central than the Weekly Sabbath, the Monthly was still widely recognized and routinely observed in national religious life. But Scripture also indicates that Monthly observance was more apt to become formalistic and detached from covenant obedience (Isaiah 1:14).

Even so, for the most part the monthly cycle was well maintained, since it required only brief and less frequent interruptions of labor, and was reinforced through consistent sacrificial worship and shavat -- Sabbath. Israel's fidelity to the Monthly celebration appears to have been moderate to strong, especially in institutional and temple settings, and in times of meaningful national stability.

#4. The Yearly Rhythm -- The Calendar Year's Holy Days and Feast Sabbaths

Israel's annual calendar included multiple appointed times established by God as "holy convocations" (Leviticus 23:4). These included Passover with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits with the Feast of Weeks, the Day of Trumpets, and the Day of Atonement with the Feast of Tabernacles. All of these contained explicit designations of specific days with shavat -- days of Sabbath.

These yearly celebrations structured Israel's national and theological identity around redemption, atonement, provision, and covenant remembrance. They were a national commitment to communal worship and cessation from ordinary labor at defined times, embedding sacred time into the annual rhythm of national life. Further intensifying this commitment, the three Feasts required a national pilgrimage to the Jerusalem Temple in order to be completely fulfilled.

Historically, the yearly feasts show relatively strong but uneven fidelity. Scripture records periods of neglect followed by major restorations. For example, Hezekiah and Josiah led significant national renewals of Passover observance (2 Chronicles 30; 2 Kings 23), and post-exilic leaders restored the Feast of Booths with renewed emphasis (Nehemiah 8:17). History shows that while observance could lapse during periods of captivity and spiritual decline, the yearly celebrations were central to Israel's identity as a nation and were dutifully maintained during periods of covenant loyalty and national stability.

The Yearly Spring Feast and Festival of Passover

Exodus 12:1-51 12 For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and fatally strike all the firstborn.... 13 The blood [of the sacrificed lamb] shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you.... ... 27 ...'It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord because He passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians, but spared our homes.'" And the people bowed low and worshiped.
     - Passover commemorates God's passing over (withholding judgment) and then freeing Israel from bondage in Egypt. Ultimately, the focus is upon His desire
        to free us from the bondage of the Old Covenant and the penalty of death created by sin, accomplished through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Redeemer (ref).

Numbers 28:16-25 16 'The Lord's Passover shall be on the fourteenth day of the first month. 17 On the fifteenth day of this month there shall be a feast; unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. 18 On the first day there shall be a holy assembly; you shall do no laborious work. 19 But you shall present an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls and one ram, and seven male lambs one year old, that you have without defect. 20 For their grain offering, you shall offer fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for a bull, and two-tenths for the ram. 21 A tenth of an ephah you shall offer for each of the seven lambs; 22 and one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. 23 You shall present these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering. 24 In this way you shall present daily, for seven days, the food of the offering by fire, of a soothing aroma to the Lord; it shall be presented with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering. 25 On the seventh day you shall have a holy assembly; you shall do no laborious work.
     - This is a sacred 7-day Festival of worship and devotion to God, with shavat from work on the first and last days -- days of Sabbath.
     - Sacrifice dedicated to the seven (7 = Perfection) days of Passover is identical to the Monthly, but is repeated 7 times, spilling 7 times the blood of the Monthly.
        - 14 bulls, 7 rams, 49 lambs and 7 goats as sin offerings for atonement -- 77 animals -- are sacrificed.
     - Designation as a Feast, duration for 7 days, and much greater sacrifice confirm increased solemnity and covenental obligation of this Yearly over the Monthly.
     - Notice again that certain details aren't given here.
     - We must also note that, while not part of the Temple's sacrificial count, the deadly cost of sin was driven home very personally on Passover's Preparation Day.
        - The head of every Hebrew family in the nation was to go to the Temple shortly before day's end, there to slay the family's own lamb. By hand. With a knife.
        - Imagine it! Countless innocent lambs crying out before a sinful nation the staggering cost of atonement, with the actual, far greater price yet to be revealed.

The Yearly Spring-Harvest of First Fruits and the Feast of Weeks

Numbers 28:26-31 26 'Also on the day of the first fruits, when you present a new grain offering to the Lord in your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy assembly; you shall do no laborious work. 27 But you shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to the Lord: two bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old ... 30 also one male goat to make atonement for you.
     - First Fruits and Feast of Weeks commemorates thankfulness and first-harvest offering to God, ultimately focusing upon His desire to resurrect us to eternal
        life, accomplished through the defeat of death by the resurrection of Jesus Redeemer (ref).
     - As seen above in Leviticus (and not repeated here), sacrifice dedicated to the First Fruits harvest celebration consisted of 1 lamb.
     - Sacrifice dedicated to the Feast of Weeks is again identical to the Monthly, and to Passover but for only one day.
        - 2 bulls, 1 ram, 7 lambs and 1 goat -- 11 animals -- are sacrificed.
           - Even though both were authored by Moses, liturgical differences exist between Numbers 28-29 and Leviticus 23, which here denotes 1 bull and 2 rams.
              - In my view, only one explanation truly satisfies both responsible exegesis and the need for biblical inerrancy, that being:
                 - At certain times in their history, the liturgy of God's sacrificial system was updated to reflect Israel's specific spiritual condition and needs.
                    - Bearing this in mind, it will become more evident as we look into Ezekiel's vision below.
     - As in Leviticus 23, these are God's only appointed times not given a date -- because they were never date-specific. The timing of the Feast of Weeks
        depended on the offering of First Fruits, and First Fruits was a new grain offering presented only when the first grain ripened. Therefore, both observances
        were tied to the agricultural cycle rather than to fixed calendar dates, and they have no set date given anywhere in the Bible.
     - Note: other than "when you present a new grain," the method to determine when to celebrate these holy days (given in Leviticus 23) isn't given here.

The Seventh Month's First Day -- The Day of Trumpets (today called Rosh Hashanah, but never so-called in the Bible)

Numbers 29:1-6 1 'Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy assembly; you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets. 2 And you shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without defect ... 5 and one male goat as a sin offering, to make atonement for you, 6 besides the burnt offering of the [Monthly] new moon ... and the [Daily] continual burnt offering ... for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.
     - As the Seventh Day represents the all days of the week, so the Seventh Month was chosen by God to represent all the months of the year.
        - And so the First Day of the Seventh Month was chosen to represent all the days of the year.
     - Day of Trumpets, in both Leviticus 23 and Numbers 28-29, is singularly described as "a day for blowing trumpets", even though trumpets were to be blown
        at all New Moons and Yearly Feasts (Numbers 10:10), confirming these to be a covenantal "step up" from the other appointed times.
        - Within the context at hand, this unique and special attention to the sounding of trumpets clearly signals commemoration of:
           - Special sacred gatherings of the people (Numbers 10:1-8) - compare Revelation 14:14-16;
           - God's Kingship and Lordship (Psalm 98:6) - compare Revelation 17-14;
           - Holy war and divine intervention (Numbers 10:9; Joshua 6:4-5; 2 Chronicles 13:12) - compare Revelation 16:13-21;
           - God's Personal and literal presence, as at Sinai (Exodus 19:16-19) - compare Revelation 20:4-6;
           - Times of great joy (Numbers 10:10) - compare Revelation 21:1--22:7.
     - In perfect confirmation, we now also know that Jesus chose this Seventh (Perfection) New Moon of the Year to be the future day of His triumphant return.
     - Just as the Weekly honored Jesus as Creator, so He is also honored as Re-Creator at the Monthly renewal (re-creation) of the Moon.
          - As the Seventh Monthly, this is the perfect representative for all the Monthly, and they are all days of ceasing and devotion to God, shavat -- Sabbath days.
     - Sacrifice dedicated to the Day of Trumpets differs from previously: 1 bull, 1 ram, 7 lambs and 1 goat -- 10 animals.
        - This elevates the sacrifice dedicated to the 7th New Moon, to a total of 3 bulls, 2 rams, 14 lambs and 2 goats, easily the most blood spilled in a single day
           of the year so far, again increasing the people's solemnity and covenantal obligation, and further exposing the horrible consequence of sin.
     - It is described as a day of rest and without work.

The Seventh Month's Tenth Day -- The Day of Atonement

The Day of Atonement ritual described in Leviticus 16 is far more elaborate than any other appointed time of Sabbath. It was the only day each year when the high priest -- and no one else -- was permitted to enter the Temple's Holy of Holies to make atonement for himself, the entire sanctuary including the Holy of Holies, and the entire nation (Leviticus 16:34). The day's ritual demanded an intricate sequence of offerings, washings, clothing changes, and carefully ordered actions. It uniquely involved not one, but two goats to make the sin offering of Atonement -- one sacrificed to the Lord and the other sent into the wilderness bearing the nation's sins as the scapegoat (Leviticus 16:5-10). Unlike any other ritual, this day not only purified the people and their priests, but also cleansed the sanctuary itself from the accumulated sin of the nation (Leviticus 16:16). No other ceremony in the Law approached its level of detail or carried such enormous symbolic weight.

Numbers 29:7-11 7 'Then on the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy assembly, and you shall humble yourselves; you shall not do any work. 8 You shall present a burnt offering to the Lord as a soothing aroma: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs ... 11 one male goat as a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement [the scapegoat] and the continual burnt offering....
     - The Day of Atonement commemorated the solemn reality of sin, the sorrow it brings, and the costly sacrifice required to satisfy the debt that sin incurs
        before a holy God -- atonement. Its God-given rituals ultimately pointed forward to the once-for-all, eternal atonement accomplished through the sinless life,
        death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God the Son (1 Corinthians 15:20-22; Hebrews 9:11-12), which the imperfect sacrifices of the Law could not attain.
        His perfect and complete sacrifice was the only way to save humanity (Hebrews 10:10), and it was God's love that moved Him to provide us salvation at
        such a cost (Romans 5:8).
     - Sacrifice dedicated to the Day of Atonement is the same as for the Day of Trumpets (without the additional Monthly sacrifice):
        - 1 bull, 1 ram, 7 lambs and 1 goat -- 10 animals.

The Yearly Fall Feast -- The Festival of Booths (Tabernacles, Sukkot)

Numbers 29:12-38 12 'Then on the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy assembly; you shall do no laborious work, and you shall celebrate with a feast to the Lord for seven days. 13 You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the Lord: thirteen bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old, which are without defect ... 16 and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering....
17 'Then on the second day: twelve bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs... 19 and one male goat as a sin offering....
20 'Then on the third day: eleven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs... 22 and one male goat as a sin offering....
23 'Then on the fourth day: ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs... 25 and one male goat as a sin offering....
26 'Then on the fifth day: nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs... 28 and one male goat as a sin offering....
29 'Then on the sixth day: eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs... 31 one male goat as a sin offering....
32 'Then on the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs... 34 and one male goat as a sin offering....
35 'On the eighth day you shall have a sacred assembly; you shall do no laborious work. 36 But you shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs... 38 and one male goat as a sin offering....
     - Booths commemorated Israel's 40-year wilderness journey, living in temporary shelters as God protected and dwelt among them. The feast ultimately points
        to God's desire to dwell with His people forever -- now fulfilled in promise, and soon to be finally realized in Jesus Savior and Re-Creator (ref).
     - Note that the feast lasted 7 days yet there is also an 8th day -- all shavat -- and work is disallowed only on the 1st and 8th days -- official days of Sabbath.
     - This was an 8-day Festival of devotion -- sabbath -- with a division after the first 7 days, suggesting a representation first of all nations and then of Israel.
        - This separation has led many to believe that the 70 bulls slayed in the first week, were atonement for the 70 nations of the Earth -- the 70 "families of the
           sons of Noah" listed in Genesis 10 -- atonement required in order for God to "overlook" sin until the Messiah (Acts 17:22-31; Romans 5:12-13).
     - Sacrifice dedicated to the eight (8 = renewal) days of Booths was 71 bulls, 15 rams, 105 lambs and 8 goats of atonement -- an astonishing 199 animals.
     - Designation as a Feast, duration of 8 days, and far greater sacrifice confirm a continuing increase of solemnity and covenental obligation throughout the year.

Resolving Ezekiel's Temple Conundrum -- The Pre-Messianic Vision for a Fidelity Israel Never Achieved

The temple vision in Ezekiel 40--48 has long posed a difficulty for interpreters. The sacrificial system Ezekiel describes differs sharply from the one established under Moses in Leviticus 23 and Numbers 28--29. Yet the same God authored both. How can these differences be understood without imagining two competing covenantal systems? Scripture itself provides the answer.

Israel's history under Moses was marked by continual covenant-breaking rather than covenant-keeping, resulting in liturgical changes even from Leviticus to Numbers (see above). God Himself declares Israel's failings repeatedly. In Ezekiel 20:13 He says, "But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes...." Likewise, Deuteronomy 9:7 reminds them, "Remember, do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day that you left the land of Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord." The sacrificial system given through Moses was holy, but Israel's repeated infidelity emptied their worship of meaning, so much so that God said, "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them" (Isaiah 1:14). Into this context of persistent disobedience and God's own discontent, God showed Ezekiel a vision of a renewed temple, priesthood, and sacrificial calendar (Ezekiel 40--48). This system was not simply a restoration -- it was a blueprint for a covenant faithfulness Israel had never yet attained.

Ezekiel's vision was explicitly conditional: "And if they are ashamed of all that they have done...." (Ezekiel 43:11). God was not waiting for Israel to "return" to a faithfulness they had previously known, but for them to enter covenant fidelity for the first time in their national life. The temple, priestly order, and sacrifices Ezekiel describes belong to that unrealized scenario. After the exile, even with Israel's partial repentance, Ezra 9:7 confesses, "Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt," and Nehemiah 9:33 similarly acknowledges, "However, You are righteous ... for we have acted wickedly." Since Israel never reached the repentance and fidelity Ezekiel's vision required, the renewed liturgical system was never implemented. And now it's too late.

If Ezekiel's sacrificial system had been instituted, it would have belonged to a time before the coming of Christ. Once Jesus fulfilled the Law through His once-for-all sacrifice -- "By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10) -- no further sacrificial system could rightly function. Hebrews 10:18 affirms, "Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin." Thus Ezekiel's sacrificial blueprint is a pre-Messianic, conditional design for a faithfulness Israel never achieved, and which could no longer happen after Christ's atoning work.

As we know, "All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching...." (2 Timothy 3:16), and we can still learn from Ezekiel. Even though Ezekiel's liturgical details would have differed from those under Moses, the underlying spiritual reality would have remained the same. God's call to sabbath ceasing, sacrificial devotion, and the honoring of specific holy days would not have changed. The regular rhythms of worship given under Moses would have remained identical. God originally sanctified specific holy days for consecrated worship, and Ezekiel's vision reinforced these sabbaths.

God's Vision to Ezekiel

The First Month's First Day and First Day of the Year -- Cleansing of the Sanctuary

Ezekiel 45:18-19 18 'This is what the Lord God says: "In the first month, on the first of the month, you shall take a bull without blemish and cleanse the sanctuary from sin. 19 And the priest shall take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner courtyard.
     - Under Moses this day was already a Monthly Sabbath, and its covenental obligation and importance would have increased under Ezekiel.
     - It seems natural that this first day of God's New Year should receive a greater covenantal significance, especially for a nation truly dedicated to the Covenant.

Ezekiel 46:1-10 1 'This is what the Lord God says: "The gate of the inner courtyard facing east shall be shut for the six working days; but it shall be opened on the [Weekly] Sabbath day and opened on the day of the [Monthly] new moon. 2 The prince [ruler, leader, king] shall enter by way of the porch of the [East] gate from outside and stand by the post of the gate. Then the priests shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then go out; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. 3 The people of the land shall also worship at the doorway of that [East] gate before the Lord on the [Weekly] Sabbaths and on the [Monthly] new moons. 4 The burnt offering which the prince shall offer to the Lord on the [Weekly] Sabbath day shall be.... ... 6 On the day of the [Monthly] new moon he shall offer.... ... 8 When the prince enters, he shall go in by way of the porch of the [East] gate, and go out by the same way. 9 But when the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed [Yearly] feasts, one who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And one who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. ... 10 And when they go in, the prince shall go in among them; and when they go out, he shall go out.
     - The Weekly and Monthly Sabbaths are confirmed as days of ceasing -- explicitly set apart from days of work. We know this applies to the Yearly as well.
     - The Weekly, Monthly and Yearly Sabbaths were all days that were consecrated for holy convocation, worship and sacrifice.
     - The passage identifies which Temple Gate would be opened, and upon which occasions, for entry by the prince and the people.
        - It is only at the Weekly and Monthly when the East Temple Gate is to be opened.
        - The Yearly was not greater (or lesser) because a different gate was used. This only indicates that it received a different treatment and emphasis.

The similar and inclusive treatment of these three Sabbath rhythms is confirmed numerous times, and in both the Old and New Testament. This includes passages such as 1 Chronicles 23:31, 2 Chronicles 2:4 and 8:13, Nehemiah 10:33, Isaiah 1:13-14, Ezekiel 45:17, Hosea 2:11, and Colossians 2:16-17. From this we are assured that the Weekly, Monthly and Yearly Sabbath rhythms held deep significance for the Old Covenant Hebrew people and formed a unified pattern of Sabbath -- official days of shavat devoted to the One true God.

#5. The Seven-Year Rhythm -- Every Seventh Year was a Sabbath

Exodus 23:10-12 10 "Now you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, 11 but in the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie uncultivated, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the animal of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. 12 "For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as the stranger residing with you, may refresh themselves.
     - God instructed Israel that in order to assist the needy, the people were to cease from their normal agricultural activity every 7th year.
     - The 7th-Year Sabbath is expressly based upon the same Principle which the Weekly Sabbath is based upon.

Leviticus 25:3-5 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its produce, 4 but during the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap your harvest's aftergrowth, and you shall not gather your grapes of untrimmed vines; the land shall have a sabbatical year.
     - The 7th-Year Sabbath, also called the Sabbatical Year or "Shemitah," was God's command to Israel to observe a special year of rest every seventh year.
     - It primarily concerned the land, economic life and stability, and care for the poor.

As God instructed them in the Law, each 7th-Year Sabbath, Israel was to:
     - Cease from the work of cultivating, sowing, pruning and harvesting the crops, while God promised to provide extra to cover any shortage.
        - This obviously doesn't mean the cessation of all work and commerce for an entire year, again confirming shavat can indicate varying degrees of rest.
     - Only take from their fields what grew naturally, for themselves, while allowing the poor and the animals free access to what they didn't need.
     - Forgive all debts of their fellow men. Obviously, during the other six years loans and indebtedness would be arranged with this understanding.
     - All of this, both ceasing and resting, is shavat -- Sabbath.
     - The 7th-Year Sabbath was to teach Israel to trust God's provision, care for the poor, treat the land with respect, and remember that both the people and the
        land belonged to the Lord.

The Seventh-Year Sabbath (the Sabbatical Year, or Shemitah) is presented in Scripture as a divinely mandated rest cycle for the people, the land and for Israel's economic well-being. Every seventh year, Israel was commanded to cease normal agricultural activity: fields were not sown, vineyards were not pruned, and the land itself was to rest "a sabbath to the Lord" (Leviticus 25:4) -- the land could not shavat until the people first did so. Whatever grew naturally was not to be harvested in the normal commercial sense, but was available as common provision for owners, servants, foreigners, and even animals (Leviticus 25:6-7). This established a rhythm in which productivity was periodically surrendered to acknowledge God's ownership of the land and Israel's dependence on His provision.

The Sabbatical Year also carried a strong social and economic dimension. Debts among the Israelites were to be released at the end of the seven-year cycle (Deuteronomy 15:1-2), and generosity toward the poor was commanded precisely in light of the approaching year of remission (Deuteronomy 15:9-10). Alongside agricultural rest, the system functioned as a periodic more spiritual rest and reset of economic pressure and a safeguard against permanent poverty and exploitation. God also promised that obedience would not lead to lack, but that the sixth year would produce an unusually abundant harvest sufficient to carry Israel through the seventh and into the following year (Leviticus 25:21), exactly as He had provided them with manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16).

The biblical record strongly indicates that Israel observed this command inconsistently at best. Scripture explicitly connects the Babylonian exile to failure to allow the land its Sabbaths, stating that the land finally "enjoyed its sabbaths" during the period of desolation (2 Chronicles 36:21). Prophetic rebukes and historical narratives suggest that while the law was known, it was often neglected in practice, likely because it required sustained economic restraint and trust in God that went beyond ordinary ritualistic observance. It required more than they were willing to give.

At the same time, the Sabbatical Year remained an enduring ideal within Israel's covenant framework. After the exile, renewed commitment to the seventh-year release is explicitly reaffirmed (Nehemiah 10:31), and later historical references suggest that sabbatical cycles were at least partially observed in post-exilic Judaism. Overall, the Seventh-Year Sabbath stands as a more demanding and less consistently practiced counterpart to the weekly Sabbath: not merely a day of rest, but a structured interruption of economic activity and ownership patterns designed to protect the vulnerable, teach reliance upon God, and remind Israel that the land ultimately belongs to Him.

#6. The 49-Year Rhythm -- The Jubilee -- Every Seventh Seventh Year was a High Sabbath

Leviticus 25:8-55 8 'You are also to count off seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven Sabbaths of years, that is, forty-nine years. 9 You shall then sound a ram's horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land.
     - The 7th 7th-Year Sabbath, called the "Jubilee," was God's command to Israel to observe an even more special and demanding year every 49th year.
     - The highest day of this highest rhythm of Sabbath was the Day of Atonement in the 49th year.
     - Jubilee primarily concerned personal and national stabilization, ensuring no lineage would ever be left destitute.

As God instructed them in the Law, besides the 7th-Year commands, at each 49th-Year Jubilee Sabbath Israel was to:
     - Resolve and settle all financial debts, taking great care not to wrong one another.
     - Return lands that had been sold (leased), to the families who originally received them from God as promised land.
     - Release any of their fellow countrymen who had become indentured servants since the previous Jubilee.

The Year of Jubilee, described in Leviticus 25, is presented as the climactic extension of Israel's sabbatical system. It follows seven cycles of seven years -- "seven sabbaths of years, seven times seven years" (Leviticus 25:8) -- bringing the total to forty-nine years, when the Jubilee is proclaimed. On the Day of Atonement, the sounding of the trumpet announces "liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants," marking the holy fiftieth year (Leviticus 25:9-10). The Jubilee thus emerges as the culmination of sabbath rhythm, built directly on the completed cycle of seven sevens.

The Jubilee carries a radical set of commands that extend the logic of the seventh-year Shemitah Sabbath into the social and economic structure of Israel. Land that had been sold was to return to its original tribal inheritance, ensuring that permanent alienation of family property was prevented (Leviticus 25:10, 25:23-24). Israelite servants who had entered into indentured service due to poverty were to be released and returned to their families and inheritance (Leviticus 25:39-41). Even the valuation of land transactions was regulated according to the number of years remaining until the next Jubilee, emphasizing that ownership was always temporary and that the land ultimately belonged to God.

The theological foundation of the Jubilee is explicit: "the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me" (Leviticus 25:23). This principle reframes Israel's entire economic system. Land, labor, and wealth are not absolute possessions but stewardship held under divine ownership. The Jubilee therefore functions as a periodic reset of social hierarchy, preventing permanent generational poverty and restraining the accumulation of land-based wealth in a few hands. It embodies liberty, restoration, and covenantal equality under God's rule.

At the same time, the biblical record provides no clear narrative of a fully documented nationwide Jubilee being observed in practice, unlike the more visible festival cycles. While elements of the system -- such as debt release principles, servant release, and land redemption laws -- appear to have been known and at times applied, the full integrated observance described in Leviticus cannot be historically traced. This has led many interpreters to view the Jubilee as a theological ideal embedded within Israel's national psyche through Covenant Law, even though it was never fully implemented.

Within the broader sabbatical framework, the Jubilee stands as the highest intensification of the Sabbath principle: not merely a day or a year of rest, but a complete restructuring of economic and social life every seven cycles of seven years. It reinforces the recurring biblical pattern that time, land, labor, and ownership are ultimately under God's sovereignty, and it anticipates themes of release, restoration, and liberty that later prophetic and New Testament texts associate with ultimate redemption. It is the sixth and last typological representation of God's final Rescue of His people, and their Release into the ultimate Rest of the Redeemer.

The Typological Nature of Sabbath -- Pointing to the True Rest of God

The progressive structure of Sabbath throughout Scripture demonstrates that the Old Covenant Sabbaths were never ends in themselves. They were typological -- prophetic shadows designed to reveal deeper spiritual realities that would ultimately be fulfilled in Jesus Christ and in God's completed plan of redemption.

This is stated directly in the New Testament:

Colossians 2:16-17 "Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food, drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day -- things which are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ."

The Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly Sabbaths are specifically grouped together by Paul exactly as they are throughout the Old Testament, confirming that the entire Sabbath system formed a unified prophetic structure. These observances were real, holy, and commanded by God, but they pointed beyond themselves toward a greater fulfillment yet to come.

Hebrews 4 likewise explains that the true Sabbath-rest of God was never attained through the Old Covenant system itself:

Hebrews 4:8-10 "For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His."

God's Sabbath therefore was meant to reveal a divine pattern:
     - ceasing from self-directed labor;
     - trusting in God's provision;
     - relying upon atonement;
     - receiving restoration; and
     - ultimately entering God's own rest.

Every typological rhythm of Sabbath progressively intensified these themes:

the Daily continually reminded Israel of God's Atonement -- His Plan of Eternal Salvation;
the Weekly celebrated resting in God's completed work of Creation;
the Monthly celebrated the restoration of God's Creation yet to come;
the Yearly rehearsed redemption, resurrection, judgment and dwelling with God;
the Sabbatical Year required trust beyond ordinary labor; and
the Jubilee proclaimed liberty, restoration, inheritance, and release.

Yet even the Jubilee was only the sixth and last shadow of God's Sabbath. Beyond it still lay true Sabbath toward which all the preceding patterns pointed.

God's True Sabbath

#7. The Seventh Thousand Years -- God's Sabbath of Completion and Perfection

Revelation 20:1-6 1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he took hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.
4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hands; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
     - Satan is imprisoned and disenabled, and so cannot deceive the nations throughout this 1000 years, finally bringing peace to the Earth.
     - The unrighteous "nations" have entered this time in their physical bodies, and will continue to live and die, and procreate their generations.
     - None who were righteous have physically entered this time -- they were all raptured to heaven prior to the final battle (Church; Israel).
     - The resurrected righteous -- who can no longer be deceived -- have been brought into this time in their new spiritual bodies.
        - Their purpose is to live a 1000-Year Shavat -- Sabbath -- reigning with Jesus Savior and participating in the Judgment of the unsaved.
           - This process is to enable the righteous to truly understand the antichrist nature of the unrighteous, and why their punishment is appropriate.

"...with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day." - 2 Peter 3:8

The repeated use of God's perfect number demonstrates a divinely ordered pattern of completeness, pointing beyond itself toward ultimate fulfillment in God's redemptive plan. The Old Covenant Sabbath structure therefore reveals far more than isolated holy days scattered throughout Israel's calendar. Again and again throughout Scripture, God embedded the same pattern into sacred time, with each of these appointed rhythms given to the people in order to progressively reveal what true Sabbath was always meant to be:
     - After the twice-Daily appointed sacrifice typified the continual and unending nature of God's Sabbath;
     - the Seventh Day gave Sabbath to the week;
     - the Seventh Month gave Sabbath to the year;
     - the Seventh Year gave Sabbath to the land; and
     - the Seventh Seventh Year gave Sabbath to the nation.

Each Sabbath pattern expanded the scope of God's revealed rest: from the individual day, to the calendar cycle, to the land itself, and finally to the entire covenant nation. Yet even the Jubilee -- the highest and most comprehensive Sabbath under the Old Covenant -- still pointed beyond itself toward a greater and final fulfillment not yet attained.

The number seven is God's representation of completion and perfection, as with the 7th Day, the 7th Month, the 7th Year and the 7th 7th Year. Why would Revelation's 1000 years not also be the 7th Millennium? Certainly when we understand the Bible's timeline from creation, this fact would appear to be inescapable.

The Seventh Millennium Gives Sabbath To The Fallen Creation.

Just as God completed creation in six days and rested on the seventh, so Scripture reveals six millennia of fallen human history followed by the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ upon the Earth. This Millennial Kingdom is therefore the great climactic Seventh Sabbath -- the antitype toward which all prior Sabbaths pointed.

The Seventh Thousand Years will be the Perfect Sabbath reign of Jesus Savior -- the consummation and realization of God's True Sabbath on the present Earth while preparing for eternity. Here, at last, the principle of shavat reaches its fullest historical expression. The rebellion, deception, oppression, corruption, and restless striving that characterized the previous six thousand years are interrupted by the righteous rule of Christ Himself. The fallen order of the present world enters its divinely appointed cessation:
     - complete and enduring peace upon the Earth;
     - righteous rule under the Messiah;
     - humanity living beneath the direct Kingship of Christ;
     - the completion of God's restorative work within fallen history; and
     - the judgment of the unrighteous in preparation for eternity.

This is God's True Sabbath for the fallen creation -- a time of shavat made necessary by sin, during which the corruption and consequence of sin are brought to their appointed end.

Viewed together, the biblical Sabbath patterns form a unified prophetic structure moving steadily toward this consummation. The sacrificial system so often structured around sevens, the seven-day framework of the two greatest feasts -- Pentecost in the Spring and Booths in the Fall -- the progression from Seventh Day to Seventh Year to Seventh Seventh Year -- all declare the same overarching pattern established by God from the beginning.

Just as creation was completed in six days followed by God's seventh-day rest, so Earth's history moves through six thousand years of fallen-human labor toward the great and Perfect Seventh Millennium -- the Sabbath reign of Jesus Christ upon the Earth, completing the present age and preparing creation itself for eternity.

And yet Scripture reveals that even this final earthly Sabbath is not the ultimate end.

When we fully consider the year's final Feast -- Booths -- we find that God appointed not only seven days, but also an eighth day beyond the completed cycle. That eighth day stands as a final prophetic signal: that beyond the completion of our present age there is renewal yet to come. Beyond even Christ's thousand-year consummation of the present fallen Earth lies the eternal New Creation.

#8. Eternity -- God's Sabbath of Renewal -- True Sabbath Given To The New Creation

Just as the Feast of Booths uniquely contained an eighth day beyond its completed seven-day cycle, so Scripture reveals that beyond the completed Sabbath of Christ's Millennial reign there still lies an even greater fulfillment: The Eternal New Creation.

The Seventh Millennium brings Sabbath to the fallen creation. The Eighth Sabbath brings renewal to creation itself.

Revelation 21:1-27 1 Then I saw a new heaven [sky] and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."

Revelation 22:1-5 3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will reign forever and ever.
     - Our eternity will be spent upon the renewed Earth, re-created into the perfection it was always meant to possess.
     - "The first things" -- including sorrow, pain and death -- have finally come to their complete end with the close of the thousand years.
     - The New Jerusalem, bearing the previously raptured righteous -- the Bride -- now descends from heaven to dwell upon the renewed Earth with God forever.

Biblically, the number eight signifies renewal, new beginning, and new creation:
     - the eight persons of Noah's family emerged into a renewed world;
     - circumcision, the physical sign of entering the Old Covenant, occurred on the eighth day;
     - priests began their ministry on the eighth day following their consecration;
     - healed lepers were declared clean on the eighth day; and
     - Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of a new week -- prophetically, the Eighth Day.

The pattern is now complete.

Just as creation was accomplished in six days followed by the seventh-day Sabbath, so fallen history moves through six thousand years toward the Seventh Millennium -- the great Sabbath reign of Christ upon the Earth. And just as the Feast of Booths pointed beyond its completed seven-day cycle through an eighth day of renewal, so Scripture reveals a final reality beyond the completed Millennial Kingdom itself: An Eternal Sabbath renewal within the New Creation.

This is the Eighth Sabbath -- the Sabbath of Renewal upon the brand new, re-created and eternal New Earth. God's New Creation is the Eighth Sabbath.

Here the purpose of all Sabbath reaches its fullest and eternal realization. No longer is there merely ceasing from labor, restraint of evil, or temporary peace within a fallen world. Sin, death, sorrow, corruption, and separation are gone forever. God dwells openly among His people, creation itself is made new, and the redeemed reign eternally in the presence of God.

Both in type and in antitype, all Sabbath ultimately points to Jesus Christ -- the Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8). The Old Covenant rhythms of sacred time were prophetic witnesses declaring that humanity's true rest would never be found in mere cessation from labor, nor in the imperfect shadows of the Law, but only in the completed redemptive work of God and the renewal which creates His eternal Kingdom.