Ship of the West

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The scripture says “Casting the lot settles disputes and keeps strong opponents apart.” (Proverb 18:18) I think it is safe to say that the Wednesday or Friday crucifixion debate is a pretty strong contention among the Sabbatarian communities; especially around the time Passover. Could this sectarian division among us be resolved by the simple act of casting of lots? Actually yes!  Back in biblical times, small stones or shards of broken pottery were specially marked. And if the marked item was drawn and revealed by one of the contending parties, the dispute was settled in his (or their) favor. The lot was also cast to determine which tribe was to receive their al-lot-ment of property, and today we still call segments of property “lots”. Through the casting of lots, all parties which were invested in a contended possession were able witness with their own eyes the divine determination and the matter was settled.

 

This method of dispute resolution was so important to YHWH that a curse was pronounced upon the man who disagreed with its determination. The scripture says "Cursed is the man who moves his neighbor's boundary stone." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!" (Deuteronomy 27:17) Likewise, YHWH has cast great stones in the heavens that mark days, months and years which are capable of reconciling the Wednesday/Friday crucifixion dispute. So predictable are the paths of these two heavenly bodies, science can go backwards and forwards in time and precisely determine which phase the moon was in at any point above the earth. The curse comes to the man or woman who disagree with the testimony of these two heavenly witnesses and seek to move the boundary markers of time. As it is written “Heaven and Earth shall be called as a witness against you”.The Wednesday/Friday dispute often gravitates towards certain historical events and interpretations of scripture. As a particular chronological outcome is achieved regarding an observation, the specific position of the Sun and the Moon is rarely given consideration to validate their findings.

 

To demonstrate what I mean; I would like to present an interesting portion of scripture concerning the time when the Messiah was anointed by the spirit. It is found in the book of Luke and says “Now in the "fifteenth year" of the reign of Tiberius Caesar… the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness". (Luke 3:1-2) Historians agree that Tiberius became emperor of the Roman Empire in AD 14. And if we go forward in time 15 years, we arrive at the year AD 28 for the baptism of the Messiah. From the baptism of Yeshua to his death 3 ½ years later, we arrive at the Passover of AD 32. So is AD 32 the actual year of the Messiah’s crucifixion? If we are only looking at Luke's passage of scripture we would have to say yes! But before we can draw a final conclusion, we must must corroborate these findings the moon. We must hear its testimony concerning the particular lunar phase it was in during the evening of the Passover of AD 32. If we do, we find that the lunar records show the AD 32 Passover took place on Monday evening April 14th. Scientific observation goes on to tell us that that the Moons was not full on the following Friday evening. (Remember that according to the Laws stated by Moses, a full moon is a prerequisite to begin the Passover). These findings invalidate the AD 32 crucifixion theory since the events centering around the Messiah’s death transpired on “Good Friday”.

 

So do we conclude that the Bible is in error? Not at all! To prove the validity of the Bible we need to go back to Luke’s statement and re-evaluate the details about the reign of Tiberius. As we do, we discover more truth! It is a fact of history that the co-regency of Tiberius Cesar began in AD 12. Luke was siting the year when Tiberius was given practical authority to rule the Roman Empire. It was AD 12 when the consuls of Rome made him “co-princep” and Tiberius was made equal in decision making authority with that of the dying Cesar Augustus. The date of this event was both celebrated and recorded, “The triumphal celebration was on October 23, 12, 2 and he became colleague shortly thereafter. Thus, his "co-regency" is usually dated from late October of 12.” (Kenneth F. Doig, New Testament Chronology, (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1990).

 

Let us go back now and recalculate the reign of Tiberius based on Luke’s statement; but this time let us calculate it based upon his co-regency. Fifteen years from October of AD 12 takes us to AD 26. This fulfills Daniel's messianic prophecy of Daniel 9:25 which declares the year of his anointing by John the Baptist.The Moon goes on to declare that the Passover that took place 3 1/2 years later was celebrated Friday, April 7th, AD 30.( just as the the evidence of the New Testament indicates). To summarize: the two lights YHWH placed in the sky have been given authority to declare the dates and times. They bear an impressive testimony by validating the truths given to us in the Bible. But Luke's mention of Tiberius's reign is the only text proving that the acceptable year was AD 26. One other place can be found proving it in the scriptures; I will present this evidence in Part Six as this series continues.