Are You Prepared to Defend What You Know

8/9/2019 Are You Prepared to Defend What You Know

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Caution:Do not b el ieve

any o f w hat you

r ead h ere. You

m ust stu dy th is

for yoursel f .

I have been shown that manywho profess to have knowledge of

present tr uth know not whatthey believe. They do not

understand t he evi dences of t heirfait h. They have no just

appreciat ion of the work for thepresent ti me. When the ti me oftrial shall come, there are men

now preaching to others who wi llfind, upon examin ing the

posit ions they hold, that thereare many thi ngs for which theycan give no sat isfactory reason.Unti l t hus tested they kn ow nottheir great ignorance. And thereare many in the church who take

it for granted that theyunderstand what they believe;but, un ti l contr oversy ari ses,they do not know their own

weakness. When separated fromthose of l ik e faith and compelled

to stand singly and alone toexplain their belief, they will be

surprised to see how confused aretheir ideas of what t hey had

accepted as truth . . . .Maranatha 45

Are Yo u Prepared to Defend W hat You Kno w?The Two Calendar Problem of the Last Days

In the last few years, new information has surfaced that may be of importance

to Seventh-Day Adventists, especially for the end time. The information appears tohave had the hand of God covering it for at least twothousand years. It is now being studied around theworld with renewed vigor in some Adventist circles, aswell as other 7th day Sabbathkeepers. This informationmay have surfaced briefly during the Millerite period,and during the early years of the SDA church. It wasstudied by a SDA Research Committee in 1938-1939,but the information was never released to the Adventistpublic at the time for fear of the impact and theconsequences. It has been buried until recently.

The issue focuses on the calendar that was used to determine October 22, 1844, thecornerstone of the 2300 day prophecy and the Adventist movement. To fix the correctdate for the Day of Atonement in 1844, theMillerites discovered they had to use the calendarthat was in use when the information was givenoriginally. The calendar they found appears to goas far back as creation and certainly to the time ofthe Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Thatcalendar is outlined in scripture and is differentfrom the calendar we use today, which is the

Roman calendar enacted by Pope Gregory, knownas the Gregorian calendar.

The calendar the Millerites found they had to useis the one that God set up for the feasts orappointed times. It is often referred to as alunisolar calendar, being neither all lunar, norall solar. The biblical year began around the timeof the vernal equinox in the spring (Ex 12:2), andeach month began immediately following the darkor new moon, beginning with the sighting of thevisible crescent moon.

To be consistent with Adventism's spiritualforefathers, do Seventh-day Adventists of todayneed to compute when the true Sabbathoccurs by using the same calendar utilized fordetermining the Day of Atonement in 1844? Thismust be decided before the onset of the time oftrouble.

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The real reason for October 22, 1844 was hidden by the hand of God for a time andonly revealed to those in earnest prayer and study. Could this be the case with theissue of the calendar?

What caused the SDA church to put this issue in the hands of a Research Committee

to study? It was an effort by the League of Nations to impose a World Calendarduring the 1920's to 1940's, or at least by the early 1950s. The push to implement aWorld Calendar has never died. Once again, there is a move to implement this WorldCalendar, this time on January 1, 2012. (Seewww.worldcalendar.org) In the first yearof implementation, there appears to be no problem. But in the proposed layout of thecalendar, there is a blank day at the end of the year, which if the calendar isimplemented, will begin to displace Saturday as the 7th day Sabbath. The first year,the last numbered day of the year is Saturday. The blank day following the lastSaturday is suggested to be another Sabbath. (two Sabbaths) The Jewish communityapparently has no problem with this. Because of the blank day, in the second year,Saturday moves one day from its original spot. It then is no longer in the position ofthe 7th day of the week where it was in the first year (2012).

But this is not the real problem with the issue. There may be much more at stake herethan first appears, and that will become clearer as one studies the calendar issue.Here is one way to look at the crux of the problem. We currently use the PapalGregorian Calendar to pinpoint the 7th day Sabbath on Saturday. If one uses thecalendar outlined in scripture to pinpoint the feasts or appointed times, then uses theRoman calendar to pinpoint the Sabbath, it creates a bind between two calendarsystems. Many scholars attempt to use and interweave these two calendar systems,but all it does is create confusion. When you study the calendar of scripture, youbegin to see this dilemma.

During the flood described in Genesis, we find evidence of the same biblical calendarused for pinpointing the feasts. If this calendar was in play to track time during theflood, is it also possible that Noah was keeping the Sabbath by the same calendar? Ifnot, which calendar was he using? By the way, Noah looked pretty foolish retreatingto the ark and securing himself away during the 7 days prior to the rain and the flood.Foolish as he may have appeared, he had the truth for that time.

When the Israelites left Egypt after 400+ years, God had to reestablish their calendar.They had lost the calendar as well as the Sabbath during their enslavement. Thecalendar God reinstituted with them was most certainly the same calendar ofcreation. We know from the writings of Ellen White that Adam, Abraham and Noah,

etc kept the Sabbath of creation. The question is what calendar was this and how didit work. Simply, it was determined by the celestial bodies; the sun, moon, and stars.(See Genesis 1) At the time of the Exodus, approximately 1446 BC, there was noRoman calendar, and there was no seven day week as we know it today. So one has toask the question; if the 7th day Sabbath was on a different calendar system than thefeasts, what was that calendar system, and how was the 7th day Sabbath kept track of.

The calendar of Rome began to come into view about 700 years after the Israelites leftEgypt. Some records say 753 BC; some say 738 BC. In any case, it was the mid-700s

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BC. If you do even a brief study of the Roman calendar system you will find that eventhe first Roman calendar was lunar in nature. It was similar to the calendar theIsraelites were following and was determined by the moon and the sun.

The calendar around 60 BC just prior to the Julian reform was 304 days in length and

had only 10 months, which began in what is now the month of March. The Romancalendar at this time had 8 days, did not cycle through a 7 day week, and certainly the7th day was not a 7th day Sabbath.

The Roman Julian calendar was implemented in 46 or 45 BC. This was the first moveof the Roman calendar away from being lunar-based. That was the recommendationof Sosigenes, the creator of the Julian calendar, to eliminate the lunar based calendar.Tensions were heating up between the Romans and the Jews, and calculation of theJewish calendar was outlawed. Keep in mind there is still no 7 day week at this point(as we know it today). So where was the 7th day Sabbath pinpointed?

Roman Stick Calendar

The following drawing of a stick calendar found at the Baths ofTitus (constructed A.D. 79 81) provides further proof thatneither the Biblical Sabbath nor the day of Christ's resurrectioncan ever be found using the Julian calendar. The center circlecontains the 12 signs of the zodiac, corresponding to the 12months of the year. The Roman numerals in the left and rightcolumns indicate the days of the month. Across the top of thestick calendar appear the seven planetary gods of the paganRomans. Saturday, (or dies Saturni-- the day of Saturn) was thevery first day of the week, not the seventh.

Jesus chastised the Jewish leaders on many things during his ministry, mostly having

to do with interpretation of the law. What He didn't chastise them about may be justas important. He did not chastise them about keeping the wrong Sabbath, whichHe most certainly would have done. So what calendar were they using to pinpoint the7th day Sabbath? Which Sabbath were they observing? History shows there was no 7day week with a Saturday 7th day Sabbath established on the Roman calendar yet.

The seven day week was not fully put into place until 321 AD when it was made law byConstantine. Here's the dilemma. Did the 7th day Sabbath "magically" align with theRoman calendar at this time? How was that so? Where is the record? If it didn't showup on the Roman calendar at this time, when can it be pinpointed on the Romancalendar? With something as important and significant as the 7th day Sabbath, there

simply has to be a record. Ellen White most certainly would have written aboutsomething of this magnitude. Maybe this explains why the Sabbath becomes of lessimportance to Adventists in the end because they haven't thoroughly studied thedoctrine and know not where they stand. It becomes easier to make it of none effect.

If you study the history of the Roman calendar, you will readily see that it is highlyimprobable, more likely impossible, that there was any way the original 7th daySabbath could have wound up on the Roman calendar. It would not have been inharmony with the Bible.

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The ceremonial system wasmade up of symbols pointing toChrist, to His sacrifice and His

priesthood. This ri tual law, wi thits sacr ifi ces and ordinances,was to be performed by the

Hebrews unti l type met

anti type in the death of Christ ,the Lamb of God that taketh

away the sin of the world. Thenal l t he sacr i f ic ia l of fer in gsw ere to cease. I t i s t hi s lawth at Chr ist "took . . . out of

the way, na i l ing i t to Hi scr oss." Colossians 2:14. PP365

Now let us look at current day issues. Over the last few years, there has been renewedinterest in Gods appointed times, otherwise known as the feasts There is muchcontroversy today as to whether we should still be keeping the feasts or not. First,scripture says that they are to be ordinances forever. You decide what forever

means. Secondly, there is evidence in the writings of Ellen White that it is only thesacrifices and oblations that were done away with, and not the entire feast-keepingsystem.

If the feasts are still applicable, then it meansthat the original calendar of scripture isprobably still applicable; certainly for the feasts.This is the calendar that is set by the moon, sunand stars. And this is the point at which thelarger question is raised. Is the 7th day Sabbathsupposed to be pinpointed on the samecalendar? Or is it supposed to be pinpointed aswe have done it for 1800 years, on a corruptcalendar devised by a Jesuit, and manipulated,and implemented by pagan pontiffs, and papalprelates of the Church of Rome? This is thequestion and dilemma we are faced with today,as the possible implementation of the WorldCalendar draws closer.

There are essentially 4 methods of calendarreckoning that we are left to grapple with. This can be narrowed to 3, as one of themleads to another. Lets take a look at them.

The Jewish calendar is the most likely calendar to be reckoned with today, if one isattempting to follow scripture. But is it accurate? The Jews were supposed to presentthe Messiah; one only needs look at history to see how that turned out. They haveadded to the laws that the Messiah laid down for them to the point that Jesus himselfscolded them for what they were doing; literally they have made a mess of the laws.They have tinkered with the calendar, changed regulations, changed calculations,added postponements, etc, till no one knows for certain exactly which day is which.And they have done all this supposedly based on the original calendar of scripturegiven to the Jews at the Exodus. Some today think that the Jews have kept the countof the sabbath from the time of creation. The question is; where is that record?

Eventually the Jews transitioned from the calendar given at the Exodus to the onethat they use today; pinpointing the 7th day Sabbath on the Papal Gregorian calendar.We should seriously ask; can they be trusted?

The next calendar to arrive on the scene that we would recognize today is the Juliancalendar. This calendar was given to us by pagan Rome. What kind of influencewould one expect on a calendar of pagan origins. A little study of the Romancalendar systems will be a real eye opener if you want to venture there.

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Following the pagan Julian calendar, we move to the Papal Gregorian calendar(Paganism did not magically disappear from the scene; it simply moved into theRoman church). Eventually we will find that the Roman church is become thehabitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean andhateful bird." EW278. This is the calendar that we are told to trust that the 7th day

Sabbath is on Saturday and has been counted from creation and never lost track of.Satan has effectively worked through The Church of Rome and the Papacy whichembodies every element of deception and corruption to overturn every law anddoctrine God has given to us. Should we consider that he has done the same thingwith the calendar? You decide.

The only significant calendar system left to reckon with is the calendar of creation,given by God to Moses at the Exodus to pinpoint the appointed times or feasts. Callit the feast calendar, call it the lunisolar calendar, call it the sacred calendar; orthe creation calendar if you choose. But ask the question; Did God intend for the 7thday Sabbath to be pinpointed on the same calendar? Lets look a little further.Consider the account of the manna in Exodus 16.

Exodus 16 is the Rosetta Stone or the key to examining the true Biblical calendar.The Israelites arrived in the wilderness of sin on the 15th day of the second month,after they left Egypt. Make note of that; the 15th day of the month. That evening, thebeginning of the 16th, God sent them flesh in the form of quail that theymurmured for. He told them that in the morning (the day of the 16th) they wouldfind the manna. He went on to tell them that they would find the manna every dayfor 6 days. On the 6th day, he instructed them to gather a double portion. After the 6days of manna, God further instructed them that the next day after the 6th day wasthe 7th day Sabbath. (This is none other than the same Sabbath day of creation). Fromthe data given, we can extrapolate that the first

7th day Sabbath mentioned, 7 days from the 15th,would be the 22nd. From this we can determinethat the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and the 29th days of thismonth mentioned would be 7th day Sabbaths.This scenario outlining the 15th day of the monthas a reference point occurs three times in thefirst three months of the Exodus.

The Biblical calendar is the only one left thatman and satan cant change or corrupt becauseit is regulated by nature. Satan cant alter the

calendar given directly by God. But he canconfuse and obscure the issue. And he isworking hard to do that because his time isshort.

Now for those of you that still contend that allthis calendar stuff applies to the feasts and notto the Sabbath, look again. This scenario withthe manna in the wilderness has no mention of feasts. There is no feast on Gods

And at t hecomm encement of t he

t i me of tr ouble, we weref i l led w i th the Holy

Ghost as w e w ent for thand procla imed th e

Sabbath mor e ful l y. Thi s

enr aged th e chur chesand nomi nal Adventi sts,as th ey could not r efut e

th e Sabbath tr ut h. Andat th i s t i me God's chosen

al l saw clearl y that w ehad the t r uth, and t heycame out and endu r ed

the per secut i on w i t h us

CET 93.2 94 95 .

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calendar in the 2nd month. But it does mention the 7th day Sabbath. This has to be thesame Sabbath of creation. God would not give them a 7th day Sabbath that wasdifferent from creation. Now we come to the heart of the matter and the realquestion; which calendar is this on? If you work this out for yourselves, you will findthat you cannot find a 7th day Sabbath following the 15th of the month that falls on

the Gregorian calendar Saturday, three months in a row. It may come out to one,possibly two in any given scenario, but it is impossible for it to occur 3 months in arow. Now we have come to the heart of the dilemma; the calendar of Gods Bible, andthe Papal Gregorian cannot be harmonized.

Heres a hypothetical situation for you to think about in regard to the calendar issue.

Suppose you awake to find yourself in the middle of a wilderness. You see nothing butdesolation or wilderness in any direction as far as the eye can see. You have lost alltrack of time, including days of the week, or the month or year for that matter. Youhave no idea when Sabbath is, but you want to return to keeping it to honor God. Youhave no technology; no cell phone, no computer, no timepiece, no calendar, nothing.The only thing you have is a Bible. Using the Bible, reestablish where you are in time,and begin keeping the Sabbath again. Using Gods word and the instruction given,you can reestablish the appointed times and keep the feasts. But what about the 7thday Sabbath? This is the dilemma we are faced with when using two models ofreckoning, or two systems of calendation.

The reason this issue is so important is that it is at the heart of the Three AngelsMessage and work of the Fourth Angel right down at the end of this earths history.The Sabbath is the focal point of worship and the Creator. What if we are notobserving the correct 7th day Sabbath of Creation? God help us.

I n t he t i me of t he end ever y d i v i ne inst i tu t i on is to ber estor ed. The breach m ade in th e law at t he t i me the Sabbath

w as chan ged by man , i s t o be r epai r ed. PK 678

Paul W Puckett

December 16, 2009

There is a principle which is a baragainst all information, which is proof

against all arguments and whichcannot fail to keep a man ineverlasting ignorancethat principleis contempt prior to investigation."

Herbert Spencer

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Are You Prepared to Defend What You Know