10 September 2010 (Sheshi/Kippur)|
Day #173, 5934 AM
Teshuvah #33 360°
A Sacred Number and the Calendar
Our Disjunctive 365¼ Day Calendar (2010)
Have you ever wondered why there are 360° in a full circle? Why is a right-angle 90° and not, say, a round 100°? Why not 100° for a full circle, with 25° in a right-angle? Where did this number 360 come from anyway? And what has this to do with the teshuvah season?
"Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth" (Isa.40:21-22, NKJV).
360 is a very important number and is a part of the rhythm of human life on planet earth...or rather, it was. The truth of the matter is that originally the earth orbited the sun once every 360 days and the moon orbited the earth every 30 days. There were twelve months of exactly 30 days long each year making a total of 360 days.
The Book of Genesis tells us that Noah endured the flood for exactly 150 days or exactly 5 months to the day (Gen.7:11,24; 8:3-4) or 5x30 (150) days, thus demonstrating scripturally that in the ante-diluvian or pre-flood period the months were longer and years shorter than they are today. Is the Bible alone in this witness? Absolutely not. Over a dozen ancient cultures used the same type of 360/30 calendar until a change took place in 701 BC. That is the reason we have 360° in a circle and not 365. It was only natural to divide a circle into 360 sectors corresponding to the numbers of days the earth orbited the sun.
What caused the change in the moon's and sun's orbital periods? Researcher Donald Wesley Patten claims that the change to the 365¼ day year was caused by a close flyby from Mars which used to have a different, highly elliptical 720 day orbit intersecting earth's orbit twice yearly on 20-21 March and 24 October. Every 108 years earth would be at an intersect point too and a global cataclysm would happen. This could, he claims, explain the multiple accounts of cataclysms in the Bible at the time of Noah's Flood, the Exodus, Joshua's Long Day, Hezekiah's sundial, and so on, though this is only one of many possible explanations, both natural and supernatural. It would also explain why there are so many traditions which view Mars in negative terms, whose two moons Phobos and Deimos in Greek mean 'fear' and 'panic' respectively. The important point, however, is not 'how' this change happened but the fact that it did.
Earth and Mars
This change in calendar is what has been causing so much confusion in interpreting the correct calendar to follow in Messianic circles today. The lunar and solar calendars are out of synchronisity because of this catastrophic event. There are now different messianics claiming to have the correct calendar, from the Saturday-keepers to the lunar-solar-keppers which changes the flow of the seventh-day sabbath so that the sabbath appears on a different day each month. Others are turning to the Enochian calendar which starts the week on a Wednesday.
Our eyes are on the restoration of the Patriarchal or Melchizedek Calendar which is the 360/30 system. However, that cannot be lived until Yahweh intervenes physically and knocks the earth and moon back where they were originally. In the meantime we must, pending further revelation, follow the biblical lunar-solar with its extra day inserts, because no matter how much you try to synchronise them, you will end up with disjointed cycles with the moon leading the sun instead of vice versa.
However, let every man be satisfied in his own mind what he shall do while we await the re-alligning of the heavens from the imperfect to the perfect - I for one will not pass judgment.
What's more important, I believe, than these controversies is this question: will the old cycles ever return? I belive so, absolutely! According to the Book of Revelation:
If Wormwood or some other large body passes near the earth on the sunward side (like Planet X, for example), it would give the earth a net orbital energy gain, causing us to orbit faster and closer to the sun, thereby shortening the year by the prophesied 5¼ days down to 360 days again, which would also cause the lunar month to increase. The moon would have more angular distance to travel to arrive at the new moon position in conjunction with the eatrth and the sun each month, from 29½ currently up to 30 days exactly!
"[A] great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood" (Rev.8:10-11, NKJV).
Why has Yahweh permitted this disruption of the secred calendar? There may be serval reasons:
What is the sacred tavnith? The number 360 consists of two elements: 300 + 60. The number 300 corresponds to the Hebrew letter v shin which anciently represented two incisor teeth and therefore means to 'cut'. The number 30 corresponds to the Hebrew letter s samekh which was anciently represented by a thorn, another 'piercing' letter. It is also a word meaning 'support'. The two letters may orginally have been a single letter which were later divided. Both convey essentially the same meaning of 'cutting' or 'dividing', the samekh doing the piercing and the shin doing the slicing or dividing. Very appropriately then both letters convey the idea of cutting into regular segments.
- 1. As a punishment for sin - rebellion always leads to confusion and loss of harmony;
- 2. As a testimony that He is Almighty when He restores the old orbits before our very eyes;
- 3. As a reminder to get our priorities right - Yah'shua comes before Torah minutae of Millennial observance;
- 4. As a witness that He alone is the Restorer of the Times and Seasons, not man; and
- 5. As a testimony of the importance of sacred tavnith or pattern.
The Sacred Mathematical Slices
In the context of what we are talking about today, 360 therefore represents the slicing or dividing of set-apart time into ordered units. These units are the months represented by the number 30 which corresponds to the Hebrew letter l lamed which anciently was represented by the shepherd's staff and means to 'teach', 'yoke' or 'bind' as well as 'toward'. This leads us in combination with 360 to see the association between the Shepherd and the Messiah, Yah'shua (Jesus), who has 'cut' a New Covenant with us and binded us to Him by our trusting and obedience. Part of that covenant is, of course, obeying the moedim or annual, monthly and weekly appointments Yahweh has made with us.
360 is a trinity of perfections for it consists of 3 x 10 x 12: 3 is the number of Divine perfection (represented by Father, Son and Ruach haQodesh), 10 is the number of Ordinal perfection (represented by the 10 commandments) and 12 is the number of Govermental perfection (represented by the 12 Tribes, the 12 Apostles, the 12 months of the year, etc.).
These moedim bind us more closely to Yah'shua and teach us sacred tavnith. To know when we are to assemble with Him we need to know the movement of the sun and moon which are our time-keepers. The implication here is that when the sun and moon are knocked back into their correct orbits, we will be able to commune even more closely with our Messiah, Yah'shua. This will establish the millennial tavnith or pattern to which we aspire. In the meantime we must make do with what we have.
Whatever cataclysm is coming it will have the positive result of 'jolting' the earth and moon back into their proper places. This 'jolting' represents repentance for the earth and moon which respectively represent the husband-wife relationship at one level. They will once more be in synchronisation. The restoration of the 360 day solar orbit and the 30 day lunar orbit is therefore a picture of the restoration of the marriage relationship to correct tavnith as well as the restoration of the covenant relationship in its perfection between Messiah and the Messianic Bride. As the earth/husband repents and is realigned into his proper place or orbit with respect to Christ, so the moon/wife will be realigned into her proper place or orbit with respect to her husband. The two are closely connected.
The harmonisation of the months and years as a result of planetary re-alignment will end the current calendar controversies in the messianic movement. It will be testimony that Yahweh is putting everything back to rights so that there may be wholeness and tavnith in our sector of the Creation. Yah'shua will return to earth at Yom Teruah with a great shout that is even more deafening than any calamitous planetary interactions putting the calendar right. I believe the true calendar will be set right before He returns or at least very close to His return. When this event happens, it will be good news for the righteous!
 Tim McHyde, Know the Future: A Bible Prophecy Breakthrough (2003-2009) - though there are many useful facts in this book this ministry does not recommend it as an accurate prophetic exegesis of the end-times.
 Did the Preflood Earth Have a 30-Day Lunar Month?
Comments from Readers
 "I read your article on the 360 day year, and I thought you might be interested in a theory that Walt Brown proposed. His theory is that during the Flood, about half the water in today's ocean was released from storage about 10 miles down in the Earth's crust. As the water came out, the granite on top sank to replace it. When the Flood was over, the water and the granite had changed places, with the water now on top. This moved the Earth's angular center of mass down about 3 miles. With a constant angular momentum, this forced the Earth's angular velocity to speed up by 5.25 rotations per solar year. It is the same effect as when a twirling figure skater pulls her arms in closer to the body and her spin accelerates.
I've done the math on this, and it works. However, something must have altered the orbit of the moon at this time to put it in a lower/faster orbit. If you do the day count of Noah's Flood, the moon comes out 10 days "fast" at the end of the narrative. This has puzzled me for years. I think it has something to do with it, but I have not completely understood it yet.
"There is an interesting effect from the fact that the moon's energy was reduced by the flood, and the Earth's angular velocity slightly increased. The Earth is currently transferring tidal energy to the Moon in the form of angular momentum, so that the moon gets about 20 mm farther from the Earth every month. This means the Earth's rotation is slowing down, bleeding energy to the Moon's orbit. The moon as it gets further from Earth will take longer to orbit. I do not know what the ratio is, but it could be calculated. Meaning, the earth is bleeding energy to the moon so that the 360/30 ratio may eventually be restored in the passage of time.
"Also, I believe that the signs of the Zodiac were originally the "houses of the moon". Because in the pre-Flood world, if the month was perfectly intercalated with the years as 30/360 then each month the moon would be full in the same place, year after year. So it would be natural for the ancient to divide the eccliptic into 12 sectors of 30 degrees centered on the full moon, and then to name that group of stars. The Flood broke the clock, so the moon is out of sync with the sun. In the post-Flood world, people became more concerned with the location of the sun against the eccliptic because this was the most reliable way to determine the seasons..." (KG, Kenya, 26 December 2012)