Seven Feasts of Israel and Pregnancy Gestation
Comparison
The following information was gleaned from “The Seven Feasts of Israel” booklet written by author Zola Levitt. The outlined information takes into consideration that “God’s calendar is a lunar calendar based on the phases of the moon rather than the earth’s revolutions around the sun. Each month starts with a new moon, reaching a full moon in the midst of the twenty-eight day cycle.” (Levit, 1979, p. 2) The first feast, Passover, always falls on a full moon, the first full moon of spring.
The average pregnancy is 280 days and is counted from the first day of the last menstrual cycle before conception. Rabbi Levitt placed the 280 days on an “ideal Jewish year.” “The ideal Jewish year would start at the spring equinox, the first day of Nisan, the new moon of the first month, occurring on the first day of spring, March 21st.” Two hundred and eighty days beginning March 21st would end on December 25th. We don’t know if Christmas Day was actually the date of the birth of our Lord, but we do know that December 25 is the accurate date of Chanukah, the Feast of Dedication, which our Lord did commemorate (John 10:22).”
JEWISH FEASTS CORRELATE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A BABY
Passover –
14th day of 1st month. (Nisan) March or
Jews use an egg on their Passover table –symbolic of the new life granted to those who applied the blood of a sacrificed lamb on the doorposts in Egypt.
Ovulation – The egg and idea of fertilization.
On the
14th day of the 1st month the egg appears in the fallopian tube.
This event brings the chance of new life.
Unleavened Bread –occurs the very next day.
15th day of 1st month. (Nisan)
Fertilization – Planting of seed in egg
On the
15th day of the first month fertilization must occur or the egg will pass on.
First Fruits –
no definite date but occurs on a Sunday during the week of Unleavened Bread (spring planting) (Nisan)
Implantation – Fertilized egg arrives safely in the uterus.
The fertilized egg travels down the fallopian tube at its own speed.
It may take from 2 to 6 days before it implants and begins its miraculous growth into a human being.
Pentecost (Shavuot) –
50th day in (Sivan) May or June
New Creature - Embryo develops into a completely formed human baby (Fetus)
Slowly developing embryo takes a long time going through stages; resembles a tadpole, grows flippers, looks like man from Mars, etc.
Finally looks like a human baby (fetus) at 50 days.
Trumpets (Rosh HaShanah) –
1st day of 7th month. (Tishri) September or October.
A memorial of blowing of trumpets.
The baby discriminates sound on the
1st day of 7th month.
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)–
10th day of 7th month. (Tishri) The day of an acceptable blood sacrifice that would bring life.
Blood has to change from that of a fetus to a self-respirating and circulating human being.
The blood system changes/matures
10 days into the 7th month.
Tabernacles (Sukkot) –
15th day of 7th month.
The Tabernacle is the house of the spirit, and the spirit is the air in the Bible.
Normal baby has two healthy lungs by the
15th day of the 7th month. If born at this point, the baby can take in its own air and live on it. Growth continues…
Hanukkah (Chanukah) – Festival of Lights. Starts on a Sabbath Day at end of Nov. (Kislev) or beginning of December (Tevet)
Symbolic of Eternal Life
Eternal Life
Baby enters the world.
Upon delivery each human being will live on for eternity.
“Following the system still further, even though the birth of each of us can be seen in God’s feasts on Mt. Sinai, there is still the full 280-day period to consider, which leads to the actual normal birth time. I now had such confidence in the logic of the Bible that I took out my Jewish calendar again, and worked with the added Festival of Dedication-Chanukah.
Chanukah was prophesied by Daniel (8:9-14), and took place in 165 BC when the Temple was rededicated.” (Levitt, 1979, p. 29) Hanukkah pertains to the eternal light in the Temple.
“Chanukah lies just the right distance beyond Tabernacles to account for the actual birth of the baby. The 280 days, working with the Jewish calendar, expressed exactly ten of those mysterious twenty-eight day cycles of the moon, a system more in keeping with the way God would plan things than our Western nine-month pregnancy estimate. In any case, the eight day period of Chanukah accounted for even the off-schedule births, for the most part, and this added festival clearly left a great symbol to the whole system. Beyond Tabernacles – beyond the kingdom – we have eternity with God.” (Levitt, 1979, P.28)
Mr. Levitt, “…was the most beloved and well-known Messianic Jewish Bible teacher and Middle East commentator of his day. He was a Jewish Christian thoroughly educated in the synagogues and brought to the Messiah in 1971. He held music degrees from Duquesne University and Indiana University (doctoral coursework completed), and an Honorary Th.D. from Faith Bible College.”
www.levitt.com.
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