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Future of America in the Balance

Birth-Control (Micro-abortifacients) and Abortion (Macro and Micro abortifacients) and Homosexual Fornication and Same-Sex Marriage are All Connected,

Morally, Medically and Legally

By Larry N. Baker

        America seems to be coming under another divine judgment in the 2020’s, as social and economic pressures mount. Some 160 years earlier we suffered once under such a divine judgment in the 1860’s. There were then social and economic pressures mounting. However, it came to be understood that fundamentally it was a moral issue, a moral value of human life and liberty, that become The Issue. Many Americans throughout our history have believed in abolition of human slavery, but sadly a majority of early Americans either disdained abolition or were ignorantly indifferent initially. However, the fact remained: The US might have had slavery without an American Civil War, but there would have never been an American Civil War without slavery. The ultimate result was the abolition of slavery, as the moral issue of it all, with the majority of Americans finally coming to understand the moral and practical importance of abolition of slavery.

        Today, the ultimate issue is still a moral issue – a conjunction of the moral values of life, liberty, family, and marriage: The defense of liberty for all living Americans from conception, nurtured by nuclear families formed by a monogamous, tradition marriage of a man and a woman who might become a father and a mother. America is presently again a House-Divided. The moral issues today are on matters of abortion and marriage and the nuclear family. Specifically, birth-control [in contrast to contraception] and abortion and same-sex marriage, as well as LGBTQ+ in general, are now dividing Americans and need to be examined and clarified Morally, Medically, and Legally.

Morally –

       Our human life amounts to relationships with commitments. This design on relationship appears most foundational in the two-gender relationship of marriage between a man and a woman, as male and female. This particular relationship is foundational for families in society and is based upon a commitment with various associated commitments. Its natural design is fundamental to human existence and its perpetuation. This traditional, two-gender relationship of marriage has commitments that are loving, conjugal, personal, paternal and maternal, financial, social, and extended. Marriage is, thus, foundational for the natural design of the family, beginning with the nuclear family, and then including the extended family. A fundamental commitment in marriage regarding the family is the protection of the family in both practice and concept. This includes protection of one’s spouse and of one’s children, any and all children, from birth and even from conception. 

     Hence, this conjugal (or traditional) view of marriage is characterized in terms of three essential features:

1)    a comprehensive union between a man and a woman (with the unifying general good of this relationship being associated with procreation but not necessitating it);

2)    a shared domestic life ordered towards the raising of children; and

3)    norms of exclusivity, permanence, and monogamy, as commitments.

     The act of coitus signifies its consummation. While there are many other features of a good marriage (such as love, friendship, companionship, romance, etc.), these latter features alone are not enough to make marriage, minimally and traditionally understood, as it has been for millennia.

Medically –

         It is within this relationship of conjugal (hence two-gender) marriage that children come and grow in the healthiest way. Adult-parents can find both a focus of personal joy and a responsibility of nurture and protection, even from conception, in that life begins there. In fact, as to the existence of human life a viable, foundational premise is – Life begins at Conception. Everything stands are falls on this issue of life. Thus, any matter of abortion becomes a concern for murder and a matter of protecting a living child from harm and death. This concern may be “macro-abortion” in terms of its occurrence during the three semesters up to childbirth (and even concerns for postnatal abortions) or “micro-abortion” in terms of the stage of the child before his or her implantation on the cellular wall of his or her mother’s womb, as a blastula (that is, a blastocyst of some already 100+ cells). This also includes the time extending back even earlier, while in the fallopian tube (or duct) going back to the one-cell zygote at conception. (It is very strange and sad that medical parlance defines “pregnancy” as occurring only after this 100+ cells “blastula-baby” attaches himself or herself to the wall of the mother’s womb. Otherwise during the five or six days prior to this [but after the baby’s existence from conception] the mother is not considered “pregnant.”)

         Traditional, two-gender (i.e., heterosexual) marriage becomes foundational for the existence of the family. The family-ness within marriage becomes foundational for life beginning from conception, which must be protected from any harm that would come from “birth-control” in contrast to harmless “contraception.” These two things are not the same thing! 

Actual contraception, as “contraconception,” only addresses the matter of keeping gametes (i.e., spermata and ova) separated prior to any conception of a zygote (our one-cell stage, as humans). But “birth-control” addresses the matter of “control of birth” after conception. This “control” involves controlling, as to whether or not one is born, as “live birth,” during the prenatal time period after conception but before birth. Anything prior to conception is thus considered “contraception” by definition.

As to the how-to, in contrast to birth-control (e.g., the Pill and other pharmaceuticals and IUD devices and D-and-C, etc.) contraceptives solely involved some kind of “barrier mechanism” (principally, male or female condoms of some form, cervical caps and shields, diaphragms, and contraceptive sponges and foams with spermicide), where “withdrawal” and “rhythm” are procedures and not methods of contraceptives, though they do “contra” conception.

        To sum up, “birth-control” includes any device or practice that prevents birth, including elective abortion. “Contraception,” by definition (but not necessarily in common usage), prevents conception and could be dubbed “contraconception.” To be specific, “conception” refers to the joining of the sperm and ovum and not implantation on the wall of the womb.  It is unfortunate (if not downright Orwellian travesty) that “contraception” is being used so loosely, particularly within the context of public policy and national health care.

Also in contrast to traditional two-gender marriage, same-sex marriage is non-procreative and non-conjugal. Two people of the same biological gender cannot have conjugal relations by definition. In the US and the West in general there is a relentless push for same-sex marriage to be allowed, encouraged, and celebrated.  Gay marriage is largely symbolic.  As same-sex marriage, it is simply a political tool to undermine the last bastion of bourgeois morality - the traditional nuclear family.

         Presently, the soul of America is in fundamental debate about what is life and when, with a growing chorus of “Life begins at conception.”  However, a large group of Americans consider that “Pre-implant life is cheap.” A little smaller group consider that “First-trimester life is cheap.” A still smaller group consider that “Second-trimester life is cheap.”  Then, some that “Third-trimester life is cheap.” These views overlap with the realities about “neo-natal babies.” Even yet, still some, though fewer, consider “Neo-post-natal life is cheap,” that is, “birthday abortions.” Sadly, within this “culture of death” we are beginning to hear more and more of ones that consider “life is cheap” for infants, children, school-agers, then youth, and then adults.

Legally –

         Our American government has a focus on Life, Liberty, and Personal Property, as Pursuit of Happiness. Life founded upon and protected by family that is founded upon and protected by marriage. This is all allowed and protect by personal Liberty. This liberty is all sustained and protected by personal property and the right to such property.  The defense of freedom of conscience with its religious liberty aspect then becomes a concern for holding this all together.

        Notably, there have been eight chronological and pertinent Supreme Court decisions addressing these particular issues with each legally being built on and argued from the previous one in “one bolt of cloth” –  Griswold & Eisenstadt with Roe & Bolton along with Lawrence & Windsor & Obergefell, where Dobbs began a reversal of Roe:

Griswold vs. Connecticut (1965) with the issue of birth-control available for married couples.

Eisenstadt vs. Baird (1972) with the issue of birth-control available for single couples.

Roe vs. Wade (1973) with the issue of abortion available through the first trimester.

Doe vs. Bolton (1973) with the issue of abortion available up until delivery.

Lawrence v. Texas (2003) with the issue of state sodomy laws became unconstitutional.

United States vs. Windsor (2013) with the issue state-sanctioned same-sex marriages legalized.

Obergefell vs. Hodges (2015) with the issue of same-sex marriages legalized nationwide.

Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022) – Abortion sent back to the States.

     What future SCOTUS decision might have same-sex marriage sent back to the States?

     The particular, focused legal matters among these decisions technically were:

The Right to Privacy – Can people be immoral, when it appears not to affect others?

Substantive Due Process – Can the 14^th Amendment of Due Process be stretched too far?

Equal Protection (in equal justice) – What protections can homosexuals find from government?

What do the issues of Birth Control and Abortion and Same-sex Marriage have in Common?

          Same-sex marriage thwarts and denies the procreative-intent within the conjugal act of having sex. Conception resulting from this two-sex coitus-act may not be possible or desirable, but the sexual activity of same-sex marriage makes the central purpose of its intent (if an intent only) superfluous and otiose (lacking use or effect, functionless, something serving no purpose).   This is because the sex-act (aka, “the marital act”) is to always be conjugal, where any other form of sexual activity would be considered Onanistic or masturbic. The only two alternatives of acting out with sex are either conjugal or masturbic.

         Even though birth-control and abortion can only be involved with two-gender copulation, that is, between two people (male and female) who can procreate, these two matters of birth-control and abortion have an odd, but intriguing, connection to homosex and same-sex marriage. Abortion seeks to severe the connection between sexual activity and procreation, in that homosex and same-sex “marriages” have no such procreative connection to copulation. Sterility is the commonality in which children are not born either by action of birth-control/abortion OR by default of homosexual activities. Thus, in a sense there is a “childless reciprocal relationship” between matter of birth-control/abortion and the matter of homosexual copulation in its masturbic Onanism; and oddly (but predictably) this “void” left in the homosexual relationship has foster a social reaction of pushing for same-sex “marriage” benefits to adopt children.

         In summary, orgasmic ejaculation and orgasmic reception must be two-gender/two-sex for copulation between two people to occur, where “unbinary” orgasms [between two of the same gender] are nothing more than mutually masturbic. Copulation (in its association with marital consummation) is procreative in purpose and design and always involves two difference sexes, both genders. “Two-Gender” infers specifically the sex-act and could not be referencing isolated individuals.

        Patrick Lee and Robert P. George in their monument work, Conjugal Union: What Marriage Is and Why It Matters explained in 2014:

“The conjugal view of marriage is that marriage is a distinctive type of community, as the union of a man and a woman who have committed to sharing their lives on every level of their beings (bodily, emotionally, and spiritually) in the kind of union that would be fulfilled by conceiving and rearing children together. The comprehensive nature of this union, and its intrinsic orientation to procreation as its natural fulfillment, distinguishes marriage from other types of community and provides the basis for the norms of marital exclusivity and permanence. There are basic moral norms regarding conjugal sexual acts that follow from the ethical requirement to respect the good of marriage and to explain how the law should treat marriage, given its conjugal nature, in contrast to same-sex unions and civil union with their civil divorce. Marriage, as a traditional (“conjugal”) concept, has philosophical and non-faith-based arguments that also indicate why same-sex marriage is not marriage and why no-fault divorce law is incompatible with the institution of marriage. There are clear and significant philosophical reasons for what’s wrong with the ideas of marriage being applied to same-sex communities.” 

         This is the reason that the recent “Respect for Marriage Act” by the US Congress, enshrining same-sex “marriage” within federal law is in reality a “Disrespect for Marriage Act” – even an “Anti-Marriage Act.”  This became a notable milestone for the US. Traditional Judeo-Christian Morality has been a measuring rod of a nation’s upward progress or its downward regress with some road signs along the way down:

“That which we celebrated we begin to condemn.”

“That which we condemned we begin to celebrate.”

“And those who refuse to celebrate we begin to condemn.”

 Tucker Carlson illustrated an example of all this in his Tucker Carlson Today, October 14, 2022, with the following:

“We’d like to make a change to some custom or belief that people have been attached to for the last two thousand years. But don’t be alarmed, not a big deal. You don’t even need to participate. All we ask is that you let us live the way we want to live. That’s always the pitch. And, of course, you always agree to it. Why wouldn’t you? Who could say No? Some guy down the street wants to wear a dress? Okay, fine. Have a party? It doesn’t affect you. You don’t have to wear a dress, so go ahead. Live and let live. 

“But it turns out that’s never actually the deal. The guy down the street wears his dress. But, after a while, that’s not enough for him. He’s still angry. And for some reason, he’s angry with you. And that doesn’t make sense, because you’re the person who had no problem with him wearing a dress in the first place. 

“What did you do wrong? Well, the problem is that you’re not wearing a dress, and neither are your kids. Your normal person clothes, the ones you’ve always worn, are suddenly immoral. You’ve got to change immediately. ‘Whoa, wait a second,’ you say. ‘that’s not what we agree to. You do your thing, and I’ll do mine. Remember?’ 

“They don’t remember. They don’t care. That’s not how it works. You don’t get to do your thing anymore. The dress-guy’s in charge now. Everybody’s got to do his thing, the dress-thing, or face punishment. That’s how it goes. ‘Be tolerant’ becomes ‘show some respect’ which evolves very quickly into ‘Bow down before us, and lick our feet, or else we’ll hurt you.’ 

“That’s the final stage.”

        One can observe the process of the inhabitants of Sodom in Genesis 19, from which we get the term, “sodomites.” The LGBTQ community, for the most part, appears in time to be becoming more contentious, belligerent, antsy, restless, aggressive, and pushy about wanting more and more of whatever the rest of society offers to give them regarding protection, then recognition, then favor, then privilege. This progression can be noted in these three stages. But this can also be expanded into some fourteen stages:

1)    Recognition – recognizing – they want  people to notice them (You hear them say: “I am coming out of the closet”).

2)    Condonation – condoning – they want people to go along and see them, as fine and not to be condemned. (You hear them say: “You can’t judge me.” “Sin is in the eye of the beholder.”)

3)    Acceptance – accepting – they want people to make them a part of their world and lives. (You hear them say: “Just accept me for what I am, as no different than what you are.”)

4)    Normalization – becoming the norm – they want people to see them, as simply normal. (“What I am is just as normal, as what you are.”)

5)    Legalization – legalizing – they want for government law enforcement to back away (You hear them say: “What you call sin is not illegal and should be legalized.”)

6)    Appreciation – appreciating – they want people to like having them to be a part of their world and lives. (You hear them say: “What you call sin I call good. Appreciate it.”)

7)    Celebration – celebrating – they want people to praise and enjoy them, as special. (You hear them say: “What you call sin, I want you to call good and celebrate it with me..”)

8)    Participation – participating – they want people to become involved with them and their activities. (You hear them say: “What you call sin, I want you to be a part.”)

9)    Castigation – castigating – they want people who believe contrary to be publicly shunned, ignored, and denounced. (You hear them say: “You condemn us, as sinners, so we will simply ostracize you.”)

10) Illegalization – illegalizing – they want people to not be able to legally condemn them, but to be prosecuted, if they do (You hear them say: “What you call sin is not illegal but your condemnation of us is illegal.”)

11) Marginalization – marginalizing – they want people who believe contrary to be marginalized. (You hear them say: “I am more normal, than you are.” “Your judging attitude toward us is not normal but is harmful to me and others.”)

12) Persecution – persecuting – they want people who believe contrary to be harassed, fined, and imprisoned. (You hear them say: “You will not be allowed to have a judging attitude toward me.” “You will be forced to change you thinking.”)

13) Re-education – re-educating – they want people who believe contrary to be forced to think and talk of this and them differently. (You will hear them say: “You will be forced to change you thinking about us and what we do.”)

14) Fatalization –deadly – they want people who believe contrary to be killed. (You hear them say: “You will be eliminated by what you think and say against us.” “We will execute you for what you have said and done against what we are and do.”)

Presently, the US and the West have come to stage 10 or 11 of these 14 stages with signs of stages 12 through 13 and now even 14. Stages 13 and 14 come with a Dystopia.

LGBT? With the social acceptance of the luster of the “L” and the glitter of the “G,” they are being done-in by the promiscuity of the “B” and the medical actions of the “T” with its grooming and harming of impressionable, immature children and teens, along with the sanitizing of the “Q.” They are all one bolt of cloth. A time will come for the [dis]Respect for Marriage Act to be challenged all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States, who may vacate and reverse Obergefell and even Windsor and Lawrence for the same reasons that Dobbs reversed Roe and Bolton.

Christianity humbly asserts that God created us male and female and created marriage between a male and a female only and created sexual relationships to be within this marriage only. This, thus, put Christians on a collision course with an arrogant LGBT ideology that asserts how each person in place of God (so as to be their own god) sovereignly decides, whether he or she is male or female (T) and that anything goes concerning sexual relationships – female with female (L), male with male (G) and in or out of marriage (B). There is no middle ground, no compromise for either group, no both/and compatibility, nor co-existence, since their two worldviews, as “theologies,” are in direct opposition and mutually exclusive and are understood, as unconscionable alternatives to each other.

So, now is the question:

        What have been the personal and social consequences of micro-abortions, macro-abortions, same-gender sex, and same-gender marriages? A minority of Americans see these four things, as problems. What can develop in the US that the majority of Americans can and will see these four things, as problems? It happened with slavery and abolition. Historically, it is worth noting that the Republican Party has an interesting and unique bridge here, in that it actually began over the two issues of abolition of slavery (because of the southern states) and monogamous, traditional marriage (because of Mormonism). Interestingly, the commonality of these two was the protection of nuclear families, since human slavery had proven to be a great disrupter of nuclear families and marriages. Marriage has proven to be a great foundation for nuclear families. How may this happen in a similar way…that is not horribly painful? Amid the various other problems in our country regarding crime, economic woes, national debt, general incivility, etc., these four moral issues above seem to be foundational to the rest.

But our bigger question is:  How can this playout in the future? Can the LGBT get back in the closet? Will transgender medical procedures be outlawed? Will abortions and the Pill etc. be outlawed [with only barrier or rhythm methods used] with life of the mother, as a possible exception available but not mandatory either way? It is interesting how there has developed a cultural, all-inclusive moniker in the US and the West for all this, as well as many economic and ethnic/racial concerns, called “Woke.” This cultural ideology seems to focus  on these various immutable characteristics of people. In tandem there has come a response, if not a reaction, called “Anti-Woke.” Anti-Wokeim has, of late, become a banner of opposition to these immoral views.

How might this moral dilemma of the US and the West be resolved and solved? The historic biblical Christian faith has always had a Judeo-Christian moral code attached. This Judeo-Christian moral code historically is clear in its prohibition of abortion and the activities among those within the LGBT community. But it is not the Judeo-Christian moral code coming with a Christian faith attached, as secondary, but the other way around. The Gospel of the Christian faith first believed and accepted brings personal, eternal salvation, then there is its inextricable moral code attached and required. Thus, a revival of the Christian faith national-wide and world-wide in the West and US and Asia and the world would be the only good and prayerful direction for us to go.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, as God’s Firstfruits Fulfilled, in 2024

The Total Solar Eclipse to be seen across the Heartland of the US will be visible Monday afternoon, April 8, from 1:30 pm CDT in Texas through 2:30 pm CDT in Maine [3:30 EDT].  Of course, a total eclipse is always during the phase of a New Moon, but this specifically will be Totally Dark, no sliver of light, as in other New Moons.

However, there is another unusual, even providential, twist, with this Total Solar Eclipse:  It will occur in the US, when it is sunset in Jerusalem, the point beginning the 1st night/day of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish Year, specifically The Jewish New Year’s Day!  You see, sunset April 8 through April 9 will actually be the First Day of the First Month of the Jewish Year, the 1st of Abib [also called Nisan] that is described in Exodus 12:2; 13:3-4; 23:15-16). 

Each year this Biblical New Year’s Day comes and goes often with little notice or fanfare among most Jews and Gentiles alike.  The 1st of Abib [Nisan] always comes on the First New Moon after the Spring Equinox.  (But this year of our 2024 there will be a leap month added, as a 13th month of Adar II, to the Jewish calendar whose year is coming to a close, and then will come the Biblical New Year’s Day at sunset April 8, called the 1st of Nisan [or Abib, as in the Bible].)

Exactly two weeks later will be The Day of Passover that will begin at sunset April 21 through April 22 which was celebrated by Jesus in The Last Supper with His apostles. It is then celebrated for 7 days with an 8th day traditionally added.

The Sunday following the First Day of Passover, April 28 (beginning sunset April 27), will be the Celebration of Firstfruits.  It was at this Holyday that Jesus rose from the dead, as Easter, if one takes a rather literal interpretation of Leviticus 23:9-14.  (Firstfruits [Bikkurim], the day after the weekly Sabbath, was prophetically pointing to The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.)

Then, Seven Weeks later on Sunday, June 16 (beginning sunset June 15) will be “Pentecost Sunday” (called Shavuot in Hebrew) according to Leviticus 23:15-16.  This "Holyday of Weeks” is also then on the first day of the week and according to Acts 2:1ff became the “Birthday” of the Church of Jesus Christ.

There are three methods of determining the Date of Easter each year. Some years two or all three coincide on the same Sunday, but for 2024:

The Western Roman Catholic (& Protestant) Churches have March 31 (ignoring the 1st & 14^th of Abib – Hebrew New Year’s Day & Passover).

Some Messianic Churches have sunset April 27 to sunset April 28.

The Eastern Orthodox Churches have May 5 (ignoring the Gregorian Calendar).

It is interesting how the Western Roman Catholic Church tradition of Easter ignores the date of Passover in determining Easter, where the Eastern Orthodox Churches work with Easter following the Jewish Passover.  It is especially odd, when the King James Version of the Bible translated “Pascha” [Passover] in Acts 12:2, as “Easter.” The Church in the 17^th century did understand this connection.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ was God’s Firstfruits Fulfilled

The Total Solar Eclipse to be seen across the Heartland of the US will be visible Monday afternoon, April 8, from 1:30 pm CDT in Texas through 2:30 pm CDT in Maine [3:30 EDT].  Of course, a total eclipse is always during the phase of a New Moon but specifically Totally Dark, no sliver of light, as in other New Moons.

However, there is another unusual, even providential, twist, with this Total Solar Eclipse:  It will occur in the US, when it is around sunset in Jerusalem specifically on the 1st of Nisan – The Jewish New Year’s Day!  You see, sunset April 8 through April 9 will be the First Day of the First Month of the Jewish Year, the 1st of Abib [also called Nisan] described in Exodus 12:2; 13:3-4; 23:15-16). 

Each year this Biblical New Year’s Day comes and goes often with little notice or fanfare among most Jews and Gentiles alike.  The 1st of Abib [Nisan] always comes on the First New Moon after the Spring Equinox.  But this year, our 2024, there will be a leap month added, as a 13th month of Adar II, to the Jewish calendar whose year is coming to a close, and then will come the Biblical New Year’s Day at sunset April 8, called the 1st of Nisan [or Abib in the Bible].

Exactly two weeks later will be The Day of Passover [the 14th of Nisan] beginning at sunset April 21 through April 22 which was celebrated by Jesus in The Last Supper with His apostles. It is then celebrated for 7 days with an 8th day traditionally added.

The Sunday following the First Day of Passover, April 28 (beginning sunset April 27), will be the Celebration of Firstfruits.  It was at this Holyday that Jesus rose from the dead, as Easter, if one takes a rather literal interpretation of Leviticus 23:9-14.  (Firstfruits [Bikkurim], the day after the weekly Sabbath, was pointing to The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.)

Then, Seven Weeks later on Sunday, June 16 (beginning sunset June 15) will be “Pentecost Sunday” (called Shavuot in Hebrew) according to Leviticus 23:15-16.  This Holyday of "Weeks" is also then on the first day of the week and according to Acts 2 became The “Birthday” of the Church of Jesus Christ.

The traditions of The Western (Roman Catholic and Protestant) Church and The Eastern (Orthodox) Church calculate these dates differently by ignoring this “Jewish New Year’s Day” on the 1st of Abib (Nisan), however those who would take Jesus’ Last Supper, as a celebration of the annual Jewish Passover with Firstfruits being celebrated on the following Sunday would see it with these dates.

The Biblical Jewish New Year’s Day is often ignored by both Jews and Gentiles alike, but Moses specified this day in Exodus 12:2 and mentioned its month in Exodus 13:4; 23:15; 34:18; Deuteronomy 16:1 regarding the Exodus and Passover celebration –

Exodus 12:2 - “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.”

Exodus 13:3-4 - “And Moses said to the people: ‘Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.  4On this day you are going out, in the month Abib.’”

Exodus 23:15-16 - “You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.”

Exodus 34:18 - “The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.:

Deuteronomy 16:1 - “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.”

There are three methods of determining the Date of Easter each year.  Some years two or all three coincide on the same Sunday, but for 2024:

The Western Roman Catholic (& Protestant) Churches have March 31 (ignoring the 1st of Abib).

Some Messianic Churches have sunset April 27 to sunset April 28.

The Eastern Orthodox Churches have May 5 (ignoring the Gregorian Calendar).



THE MESSIANIC FULFILLMENT OF

THE SEVEN ANNUAL JEWISH “HOLYDAYS” OF

LEVITICUS 23 for 2024

“Clean out the old yeast, in order that you might be a new lump,

accordingly as you are yeast-free;

for Christ, our Passover, was slain for us.

So then let us keep the festival not with the old yeast

nor with the yeast of evil and wickedness

but with the yeast-free things of sincerity and truth.”

1 Corinthians 5:7-8.

1) April 22, Wednesday at sunset through April 23, Thursday at sunset is Passover’s First Day [Nisan (aka Abib) 14-20 = April 22-30] (Leviticus 23:4-5), fulfilled prophetically in the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. 

2) April 23, Thursday at sunset through April 24, Friday at sunset is Unleavened Bread [Nisan (aka Abib) 15] (Leviticus 23:6-8), fulfilled prophetically by Jesus Christ in His burial.   

3) April 27 at sunset on Saturday through April 28 at sunset on Sunday the first day of the week is Day of First-Fruits (Leviticus 23:9-14, where verse 11 refers to the normal Weekly Sabbath that begins sunset on Friday, April 26, as it also does in Leviticus 23:15), fulfilled prophetically by Jesus Christ in His resurrection.  Interestingly, the Sunday of March 31 will be celebrated by the Western Church, as Easter – Resurrection Sunday.   However, Sunday, May 5, will be celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox Church, as “Pascha” – their Orthodox Easter.  Traditional Judaism will celebrate their Jewish First-Fruits beginning at sunset on Wednesday, April 24, through sunset of Thursday, April 25, (with their 8th day of Passover beginning May 1 at sunset through May 2 at sunset).

4) June 15 at sunset on Saturday through June 16 at sunset on Sunday the first day of the week [**Sivan 6] is The Holyday of Weeks, i.e., Pentecost and “Shavu’ot” (Leviticus 23:15-22), fulfilled prophetically with the Church began in Acts 2.  Interestingly, the Sunday of May 19 will be celebrated by the Western Church, as Pentecost Sunday.  However, the Sunday of June 23 will be celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox Church, as their Pentecost Sunday.  Traditional Judaism will celebrate their Jewish Pentecost beginning at sunset on Tuesday, June 11, through sunset of Thursday, June 13. 

5) October 2, Wednesday at sunset through October 3, Thursday at sunset [Tishrei 1] is The Holyday of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25), that will be fulfilled prophetically with the ingathering of Israelis at the beginning of the Jewish Seven-Year Tribulation.  [The Jewish Tradition is to begin their civil year on the date and call it Rosh HaShanah for the beginning of their year of 5785.]

6) October 11, Friday at sunset through October 12, Saturday at sunset [Tishrei 10] is Day of Atonement “Yom Kippur” (Leviticus 23:26-32), that will be fulfilled prophetically during the future Second Coming of Christ described in Revelation 19:11-21.  On the cross He atoned for man’s sin (v.13).  He will then complete His work about man’s sins by “setting the record straight” at Armageddon.

7) October 16, Wednesday at sunset through October 23, Wednesday at sunset [Tishrei 15-21] is The Holyday of Tabernacles or Booths (or Ingathering) (Leviticus 23:33-44), that will be fulfilled prophetically at the Second Coming of Christ in the Millennial Messianic Kingdom.

Also, along with these Seven Annual Jewish “Holydays”, there three other notable “Holydays” –

March 23, Sunday at sunset to March 24, Monday at sunset [Adar 14] is Purim from the Book of Esther described in Esther 9:23-28.  Shushan Purim is March 25 at sunset.

April 8, Monday at sunset through April 9, Tuesday at sunset [Nisan (Abib) 1] is Biblical “New Year’s Day” specified in Exodus 12:2, as the first day of the first month of the year to count the days to Passover.  (Traditional Judaism has this in the midyear point of their present year of 5783.)  It is the 14-day countdown to Passover from New Moon to Full Moon. Oddly, little is done to celebrate it any more than the monthly celebration of “Rosh Chodesh Nisan” (Head [First] of New Nisan).  It could be called Rosh HaShannah Torah [“Head of the Year of the Torah (Law of Moses)”].

December 25, Wednesday at sunset through January 2, Thursday at sunset [Kislev 25 through Tevet 2] is Hanukkah which is an intertestamental event that is specifically mentioned in John 10:22.

– Here are the Details –

The Passover is on the 14th of Nisan (aka Abib) through the 20th and is called “Pesach” in Hebrew and “Pascha” in Aramaic and Greek.  It is described in Leviticus 23:4-5, “These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.  ‘On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD's Passover.’” (Also, see further details in Exodus 12:1-20; 23:14-19; 34:18-26; Matthew 26:17-30 and Luke 22:13-20.) 

Though with the focus on the first day of Passover, the 7-day Passover festival continues to sunset on  Nisan 21for Reform and progressive Jews living inside Israel who follow the Biblical text. For Orthodox, Hasidic, and generally Jews outside Israel the festival lasts 8 days ending at sunset on Nisan 22.

The Messianic significance of the Holyday of Passover was prophetically fulfilled in the crucifixion and death of Yeshua HaMashiach (Hebrew for Jesus Christ) on the Cross, according to 1 Cor. 5:6-8, “Clean out the old yeast, in order that you might be a new lump, accordingly as you are yeast-free; for Christ, our Passover, was slain for us.  So then let us keep the festival not with the old yeast nor with the yeast of evil and wickedness but with the yeast-free things of sincerity and truth.”

Unleavened Bread is the 15th of Nisan (aka Abib) and is called “Matzah” in Hebrew, the day following Passover.  It is described in Leviticus 23:6-8, “6And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.  7On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.  8But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.”   This is explained historically in Exodus 12:14-20, “15'Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses…. 16'On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you…. 20'You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.”

The messianic significance of Holyday of Unleavened Bread was prophetically fulfilled by Yeshua HaMashiach in His burial in the borrowed tomb for three days and nights, according to 1 Corinthians 5:6-8.  Yeshua is pictured, as the Yachatz (or Afikoman) in the Passover Seder.  The Afikoman is “the One of the Three” hidden in the box or bag. 

The Day of First-Fruits begins at sunset of the following weekly Sabbath to sunset of Sunday, the first day of the week and is called “Yom HaBikkurim” in Hebrew.  Thus, its calendar-date varies from year to year.  It is described in Leviticus 23:9-14, “9And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: “When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest.  11He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.  12And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD.  13Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.  14You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”  Here in verse 11 Moses was referring to the normal, weekly Sabbath, as did in Leviticus 23:15 counting the weeks to Pentecost: “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.”  Hence, both the Day of First Fruits and Pentecost each year would both always biblically be on the first day of the week, Sunday (“first day of the week.”)  This festival is the reason for Sunday-observance noted in Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2 and the basis of Revelation 1:10.  The careful biblical understanding of “Sabbath” in Leviticus 23:11, 15-16 explains how that, though the Church began totally Jewish in Acts 2, Sunday became to the focus of a weekly time of gathering and worshiping in replacing the Sabbath.

The Messianic significance of the Holyday of First-Fruits was prophetically fulfilled by Yeshua HaMashiach in His resurrection on the first day of the week, according to 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead—He became the first-fruits of the ones having fallen asleep.  For, since death came through a man, even the resurrection of the dead came through a man.  For just as all men die in Adam, thus even all men will be made alive in Christ.  But each one in his own order:  first-fruits Christ, then the ones of Christ at His return.”  Paul explained the Holy Spirit’s part in Yeshua’s resurrection and ours in Romans 8:11, “but if the Spirit of the One raising Jesus out of the dead dwell in you, the one raising Christ out of the dead will make alive even your moral bodies because of his indwelling Spirit in you.”  Then he explained the Spirit’s part in us, as His “first-fruits” in Romans 8:23, “and not only this but also they themselves having the first-fruits of the Spirit and we ourselves groan within ourselves, awaiting the adoption, the redemption of our body.”. 

Thus, the Eastern Orthodox Church connects Easter, which they call “Pascha” (Greek for Passover) to Passover and First-Fruits and celebrates Orthodox Easter on the Sunday after the Saturday after Passover, in what could be called “Passover Sunday” or “Paschal Sunday.” 

It is also interesting to note that Rabbinic Judaism and Messianic Judaism annually celebrate First-Fruits on the 16th of Nisan (Abib), two days after Passover.

The Holyday of Weeks is exactly seven weeks after First-Fruits at the close of the seventh subsequent Sabbath at sunset through Sunday (the first day of the week) at sunset The Hebrew word for “weeks” is “Shavu’ot,” so it is a “Week of Weeks.”  Thus, its calendar-date also varies from year to year.  It is described in Leviticus 23:15-21, “15And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.  16Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD.  17You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first-fruits to the LORD.  …  20The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first-fruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.  21 'And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.”   “Week of Weeks” means seven times seven days, specifically 49 days, where the next day would be 50 days, hence the Greek word for “50,” “Pentecost,” is used in Acts 2:1, “And with the arrival of the day of Pentecost, they all were of like-feeling in the same place.”  So, First-Fruits and Pentecost are always on Sunday (“the first day of the week”).  Paul noted its importance in Acts 20:16.  Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2 reflect this idea of Sunday-observance which is the basis of Revelation 1:10.  For more details see Exodus 34:22 and Numbers 28:26-31 and Deuteronomy 16:9, 10.

The Messianic significance of the Holyday of Weeks was prophetically fulfilled by the Age of Israel being brought to a temporal close, where the Church began in Acts 2 at Pentecost Sunday, as the Birthday of the Church, with a special working of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Thus, the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates their Orthodox Pentecost on this same Sunday.  [Rabbinic Judaism and Messianic Judaism celebrate their Pentecost (their Shavu’ot) on Sivan 6, that is, 50 days after the Holydays of Unleavened Bread and First-Fruits.  Often Western (Roman Catholic) Church celebrates their Pentecost on Sunday near this date.]

The Holyday of Trumpets is on the 1st of Tishrei (the 7th month) and is called “Yom HaTeruah” in Hebrew meaning a “day of blowing of a ram’s horn.”  It is described in Leviticus 23:23-25, “23Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.  25You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.”’”   This holyday is the first day of the seventh month, Tishrei, however Jewish tradition has taken this, as New Year’s Day, called “Rosh HaShannah” (“head of the year”) and celebrates for two day, 1st and 2nd of Tishrei.  It is mentioned in Nehemiah 8:2, 9-12, where Israel is back in their land and begins studying and heeding the Bible under Ezra.

The Messianic significance of The Holyday of Trumpets this will be that this prophetically signifies the trumpet call of the future Harpagmos (Rapture).  This begins “The Day of LORD.”  This trumpet call will signal a special ingathering of Israelis in a Jewish revival of Yeshua being their Mashiach at the beginning of the Jewish Seven-Year Tribulation in Revelation 6-19.  The prophecy in Zechariah 12:1-12 describes this very Seven-Year period of time:  Zechariah 12:6-11 –  6 "In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place -- Jerusalem.  7 " The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah.  8 "In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them.  9 "It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.  10 " And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.  11 "In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.”   (This is why the Harpage (Rapture) will initiate the Tribulation, however the imminency requires that it may occur at anytime and not just on the specific Holyday of Trumpets during the year that it occurs.)

The Day of Atonement is on the 10th of Tishrei and is called “Yom Kippur” in Hebrew (specifically “Yom HaKippurim” that means, “Day of the Coverings” literally).  It is described in Leviticus 23:26-32, “26And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ‘27Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.  28And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God.  29For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people.  30And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.  31You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.  32It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.’”  It is also described further in Leviticus 16:1-34 and Numbers 29:7-11.

The Messianic significance of The Day of Atonement will prophetically be fulfilled during the future Second Coming of Christ, as He comes dressed in a robe dipped in blood to the Battle of Armageddon, as prophesied in Revelation 19:11-21.  This understanding is particularly detailed out in Hebrews 9:24-28, “26He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.  27And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”

In regards to the Battle of Armageddon and the Millennial Kingdom of the Earth, Jesus called it The Regeneration in Matthew 19:28, “Truly I say to you that you who follow Me, in The Regeneration when the Son of man might sit upon the throne of his glory, you yourselves also will sit upon the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Yeshua will bring the ultimate fulfillment of God’s Plan of Atonement that began on the Cross, thus fulfilling Romans 11:26, “And thus all Israel will be saved; accordingly as it stands written, ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.’”  This is all prophesied in Zechariah 13:1-14:15.

On the Cross with the Passover, Jesus propitiated and atoned for the personal sins of the whole of humanity.  At the Battle of Armageddon, Jesus will finish His Atoning Work by Setting the Record Straight about Sin and its Consequences in the world throughout all of human history.   In the second half of the 7-year Tribulation, the worldwide sin of humanity will reach its height…its depth…as no other time in history, and the wrath of God’s Judgment, as the first part of The Day of Yahweh, will culminate in the Battle of Armageddon, when Jesus will single-handedly fight and defeat all of the unbelieving and ungodly descendants of sinful humanity through the ages, depicted in Babel on through Babylon the Harlot.

The Holydays of Tabernacles (or Booths or Ingathering) is on the 15th through the 21st of Tishrei and is called “Sukkot” in Hebrew.  It is described in Leviticus 23:33, 39-44, “33Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 34‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD.  35On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it…  39Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest.  40And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days… 42You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”’”  It is described in Neh. 8; Zech. 14:1-19. 

The Messianic significance of The Holydays of Tabernacles will prophetically be fulfilled at the Second Coming of Yeshua, at the close of the future Jewish Seven-Year Tribulation, as described in Rev.19:11-21, when He comes and “tabernacles” among men for 1,000 years in His Messianic Millennial Kingdom in Zechariah 14:16-18, “16And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.  17And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain.  18If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.”  This will fulfill John 1:14 again, “14And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the one-of-a-kind from the Father, full of grace and truth.”   Yeshua taught during this Holyday in John 7 of its future spirituality in verses 37-39, “37On the last day, that great day of the feast [of Tabernacles], Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  38He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’  39But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” [in His resurrection].  Joel had prophesied about this Millennial Kingdom in Joel 2:27-32, “27Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God, and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.  28And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.  29And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.  30And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.  31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.  32And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.”

Biblical “New Year’s Day” is on the 1st of Nisan (aka Abib).  One may call this Rosh HaShanna Torah.  The Bible mentions this in Exodus 12:2, as the first day of the first month of the year, hence this would be considered the Biblical New Year’s Day.  It is always the first full day after the first New Moon after the first day of Spring.  It is the 14-day “countdown” to Passover from New Moon to Full Moon.  This was the date of the beginning of the Tabernacle in Exodus 40:2ff.  In the future Millennial Messianic Kingdom there will be four feasts celebrated in Ezekiel 45:18, where the first one in  v. 18 will be “In the first day of the first month.”  (There is first annual monthly celebration of “Rosh Chodesh Nisan” (Head [First] of New Nisan) that is on this day.  It could be called Rosh HaShannah Torah [“Head of the Year of the Torah (Law of Moses)”].  This is not to be confused with the traditional date of Rosh HaShannah, popularly called the Jewish New Year’s Day (of the civil calendar).  This date for Rosh HaShannah is really the first day of the Seventh Month in the Bible and is called The Holyday of Trumpets.

Purim is Adar (II) 14-15 and commemorates the story of Esther with God’s Providence incognito.  The Jews in Persia were distant from Him in their religion of “Judaism” [Esther 8:17] (somewhat, as Judaism is today), and they were unknowingly protected by Him.  In the canonical text there is no reference to “God” or “LORD/Yahweh” nor “prayer.”  The details of this commemoration are found in Esther 9:23-28,  “23…the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them,  24because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them…  26So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur.…27that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year… 28that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.”

Hanukkah on Kislev 25 through Tevet 2 is an intertestamental event in 1 Maccabees 4:36-39, 54-56; 5:1; 2 Maccabees 10:1-8, that was prophesied in Daniel 8:13; 9:27; 11:21 and mentioned in John 10:22, “And it was the holiday of the Rededication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.”

A convenient source of information of these dates and for the future is Hebcal which is a free Jewish calendar and holiday web site – https://www.hebcal.com

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, as God’s Firstfruits Fulfilled, in 2024

A Total Solar Eclipse will be visible across the Heartland of the U.S. Monday afternoon, April 8, from 1:30 pm CDT in Texas through 2:30 pm CDT in Maine [3:30 EDT]. Of course, a total eclipse is always during the phase of a New Moon, but this specifical one will be a Totally Dark New Moon with no sliver of light, as in other New Moons.

And there is another unusual, even providential, twist, with this Total Solar Eclipse: It will occur in the US (when it is sunset in Jerusalem), as the very point of the beginning of the 1st night then day of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish Year, specifically The Biblical Jewish New Year’s Day! So then in other words sunset of April 8 through sunset of April 9 will actually be the First Day of the First Month of the biblical Jewish Year, that is, the 1st of Abib [also called Nisan] which is specifically described in Exodus 12:2; 13:3-4; 23:15-16. Abib [Nisan] here is understood to be the first (lunar) month following the First Day of Spring! 

The Hebrews have a Lunar Calendar tied to one specific Solar Event [the Spring Equinox] that has allowed for an exact and quite simple replication for some 35 centuries (with the help of “Leap Months” every few years.)

Each year this Biblical New Year’s Day comes and goes often with little notice or fanfare among most Jews and Gentiles alike. Every year the 1st of Abib [Nisan] always comes on the First New Moon after the Spring Equinox. But this year in our 2024 there will be a need for adding a “Leap Month” called Adar II, as a 13^th month, to the Jewish calendar. The last day of Adar II will close at sunset on April 8.

Exactly two weeks after this 1^st day of Abib [Nisan] will be The Day of Passover beginning at sunset April 21 through sunset April 22 which was celebrated by Jesus in The Last Supper with His apostles. Passover continues to be celebrated for 7 days with an 8th day traditionally added.

The Sunday following the First Day of Passover, that is, April 28 (beginning sunset April 27), will be the Celebration of Firstfruits. It was on this Holyday that Jesus rose from the dead, as popularly called Easter, if one takes a rather literal interpretation of Leviticus 23:9-14. To be precise Firstfruits (also called Bikkurim), the day after the weekly Sabbath, was prophetically pointing to The Resurrection of Jesus Christ that would thus be celebrated April 28 (even after sunset April 27), where Good Friday would then be on April 26 and Maundy Thursday would then be either on April 25, traditionally, or the first evening of Passover on April 21, to be more specific biblically.

Then, Seven Weeks later on Sunday, June 16 (beginning sunset June 15) will be “Pentecost Sunday” (called Shavuot, meaning “Weeks” in Hebrew) according to Leviticus 23:15-16. This Holyday of “Weeks” is also thus on the first day of the week, Sunday, and according to Acts 2:1ff became the “Birthday” of the Church of Jesus Christ (His Bride).

However, there are three methods of determining the Date of Easter (and hence Pentecost) each year. Some years two or all three coincide on the same Sunday, but for 2024:

The Western Roman Catholic (& Protestant) Churches have Easter on March 31 (ignoring the 1st of Abib) and then Pentecost on May 19.

Some Messianic Churches have Easter, as Bikkurim, at sunset April 27 to sunset April 28, and then Pentecost, as Shavuot, on June 16.

The Eastern Orthodox Churches have Easter, as Pascha [the Greek word for “Passover”] on May 5 (though to be after Passover but ignoring the Gregorian Calendar) and then Pentecost on June 23.

Calculating the date for Easter each year was instituted by the early church fathers in the fourth century AD, where the Council of Nicaea set the date for Easter, as the Sunday following the full moon following the Spring equinox with no accounting of that month’s new moon either before or after the Spring Equinox. The Spring Equinox was determined to always be a specific point of time somewhere in March 19 through 21, and its following full moon was determined to be 14 days after the start of the “ecclesiastical” new moon which may be before or after the Spring Equinox. There is disagreement between the Roman church and the Eastern church on these issues, which has led to them observing different dates for Easter Sunday almost 75% of the time.

In other words, their “ecclesiastical” new moon had no need of coinciding with Nisan. The determining of the date for Easter was done with no relationship to how the date for the Jewish Passover was determined.  In the fourth century AD the church in the Roman Empire made a conscious decision to divorce itself from anything Jewish. The Old Testament’s appointed times of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were no longer necessary.

Tyler Dawn Rosenquist in her book, The Bridge: Crossing Over Into the Fullness of Covenant Life, has an interesting Messianic observation and illustration of this Christian-Messianic-Judaic tension in Christian church/congregations and Synagogues: “To me, knowing the history of the fourth century CE – that Rome forcibly legislated the removal of Christians out of the synagogues and Torah keepers out of the assemblies of Messiah – Christians celebrating Christmas and Easter seem very much like children celebrating the consequences of having a broken home. Without the Christians, the Jews lost their Messiah and without the Jews, the Christians lost their inheritance. It’s like a child celebrating the absence of a parent who wasn’t even a bad parent. Christmas and Easter happened because of a broken home, and that grieves me – it doesn’t make me want to celebrate. At one point all believers in Yeshua were called Nazarene Jews, for hundreds of years – Rome robbed us of a stable home life.”

It is interesting to note how the King James Version of the Bible translated “Pascha” [Passover] in Acts 12:4, as “Easter” when most other translations use “Passover” [as in other places in the Greek New Testament where “Pascha” occurs]. The Church in the 17^th century understood this connection between Passover and Easter.

“Clean out the old yeast, in order that you might be a new lump,

accordingly as you are yeast-free;

for Christ, our Passover, was slain for us.

So then let us keep the festival not with the old yeast

nor with the yeast of evil and wickedness

but with the yeast-free things of sincerity and truth.”

1 Corinthians 5:7-8.

1) April 5, Wednesday at sunset through April 13, Thursday at sunset is Passover [Nisan (aka Abib) 14-20] (Leviticus 23:4-5), fulfilled prophetically in the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. 

2) April 6, Thursday at sunset through April 7, Friday at sunset is Unleavened Bread [Nisan (aka Abib) 15] (Leviticus 23:6-8), fulfilled prophetically by Jesus Christ in His burial. 

3) April 8 at sunset on Saturday through April 9 at sunset on Sunday the first day of the week is Day of First-Fruits (Leviticus 23:9-14, where verse 11 refers to the normal Weekly Sabbath that begins sunset on Friday, April 7, as it also does in Leviticus 23:15), fulfilled prophetically by Jesus Christ in His resurrection. Interestingly, the Sunday of April 9 will be celebrated by the Western Church, as Easter – Resurrection Sunday.  [However, Sunday, April 16, will be celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox Church, as “Pascha” – their Orthodox Easter. Traditional Judaism will celebrate their Jewish First-Fruits beginning at sunset on Sunday, April 7, through sunset of Monday, April 8, (with their 8th day of Passover beginning April 12 at sunset through April 13 at sunset).]

4) May 27 at sunset on Saturday through May 28 at sunset on Sunday the first day of the week [Sivan 6] is The Holyday of Weeks, i.e., Pentecost and “Shavu’ot” (Leviticus 23:15-22), fulfilled prophetically with the Church began in Acts 2. Interestingly, the Sunday of May 28 will be celebrated by the Western Church, as Pentecost Sunday. [However, the Sunday of June 4 will be celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox Church, as their Pentecost Sunday. Traditional Judaism will celebrate their Jewish Pentecost beginning at sunset on Thursday, May 25, through sunset of Saturday, May 27.] 

5) September 15, Friday at sunset through September 17, Sunday at sunset [Tishrei 1] is The Holyday of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25), that will be fulfilled prophetically with the ingathering of Israelis at the beginning of the Jewish Seven-Year Tribulation. [The Jewish Tradition is to begin their civil year on the date and call it Rosh HaShannah for the beginning of their year of 5783.]

6) September 24, Sunday at sunset through September 25, Monday at sunset [Tishrei 10] is Day of Atonement “Yom Kippur” (Leviticus 23:26-32), that will be fulfilled prophetically during the future Second Coming of Christ described in Revelation 19:11-21. On the cross He atoned for man’s sin (v.13). He will then complete His work about man’s sins by “setting the record straight” at Armageddon.

7) September 29, Friday at sunset through October 6, Friday at sunset [Tishrei 15-21] is The Holyday of Tabernacles (or Ingathering) (Leviticus 23:33-44), that will be fulfilled prophetically at the Second Coming of Christ in the Millennial Messianic Kingdom.

March 6 at sunset to March 7 at sunset [Adar 14] is Purim from the Book of Esther described in Esther 9:23-28. Shushan Purim is March 8 at sunset.

March 22, Wednesday at sunset through March 23, Thursday at sunset [Nisan (Abib) 1] is Biblical “New Year’s Day” specified in Exodus 12:2, as the first day of the first month of the year to count the days to Passover. (Traditional Judaism has this in the midyear point of their present year of 5783.) It is the 14-day countdown to Passover from New Moon to Full Moon. Oddly, little is done to celebrate it any more than the monthly celebration of “Rosh Chodesh Nisan” (Head [First] of New Nisan). It could be called Rosh HaShannah Torah [“Head of the Year of the Torah (Law of Moses)”].

December 7, Thursday at sunset through December 15, Friday at sunset [Kislev 25 through Tevet 2] is Hanukkah which is an intertestamental event that is specifically mentioned in John 10:22.

– Here are the Details –

The Passover is on the 14th of Nisan (aka Abib) through the 20th and is called “Pesach” in Hebrew and “Pascha” in Aramaic and Greek. It is described in Leviticus 23:4-5, “These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. ‘On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD's Passover.’” (Also, see further details in Exodus 12:1-20; 23:14-19; 34:18-26; Matthew 26:17-30 and Luke 22:13-20.) 

The Messianic significance of the Holyday of Passover was prophetically fulfilled in the crucifixion and death of Yeshua HaMashiach (Hebrew for Jesus Christ) on the Cross, according to 1 Cor. 5:6-8, “Clean out the old yeast, in order that you might be a new lump, accordingly as you are yeast-free; for Christ, our Passover, was slain for us. So then let us keep the festival not with the old yeast nor with the yeast of evil and wickedness but with the yeast-free things of sincerity and truth.”

Unleavened Bread is the 15th of Nisan (aka Abib) and is called “Matzah” in Hebrew, the day following Passover. It is described in Leviticus 23:6-8, “6And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. 8But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.”  This is explained historically in Exodus 12:14-20, “15'Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses…. 16'On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you…. 20'You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.”

The messianic significance of Holyday of Unleavened Bread was prophetically fulfilled by Yeshua HaMashiach in His burial in the borrowed tomb for three days and nights, according to 1 Corinthians 5:6-8. Yeshua is pictured, as the Yachatz (or Afikoman) in the Passover Seder. The Afikoman is “the One of the Three” hidden in the box or bag. 

The Day of First-Fruits begins at sunset of the following weekly Sabbath to sunset of Sunday, the first day of the week and is called “Yom HaBikkurim” in Hebrew. Thus, its calendar-date varies from year to year. It is described in Leviticus 23:9-14, “9And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: “When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD. 13Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. 14You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” Here in verse 11 Moses was referring to the normal, weekly Sabbath, as did in Leviticus 23:15 counting the weeks to Pentecost: “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.” Hence, both the Day of First Fruits and Pentecost each year would both always biblically be on the first day of the week, Sunday (“first day of the week.”) This festival is the reason for Sunday-observance noted in Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2 and the basis of Revelation 1:10. The careful biblical understanding of “Sabbath” in Leviticus 23:11, 15-16 explains how that, though the Church began totally Jewish in Acts 2, Sunday became to the focus of a weekly time of gathering and worshiping in replacing the Sabbath.

The Messianic significance of the Holyday of First-Fruits was prophetically fulfilled by Yeshua HaMashiach in His resurrection on the first day of the week, according to 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead—He became the first-fruits of the ones having fallen asleep. For, since death came through a man, even the resurrection of the dead came through a man. For just as all men die in Adam, thus even all men will be made alive in Christ. But each one in his own order: first-fruits Christ, then the ones of Christ at His return.” Paul explained the Holy Spirit’s part in Yeshua’s resurrection and ours in Romans 8:11, “but if the Spirit of the One raising Jesus out of the dead dwell in you, the one raising Christ out of the dead will make alive even your moral bodies because of his indwelling Spirit in you.” Then he explained the Spirit’s part in us, as His “first-fruits” in Romans 8:23, “and not only this but also they themselves having the first-fruits of the Spirit and we ourselves groan within ourselves, awaiting the adoption, the redemption of our body.”. 

Thus, the Eastern Orthodox Church connects Easter, which they call “Pascha” (Greek for Passover) to Passover and First-Fruits and celebrates Orthodox Easter on the Sunday after the Saturday after Passover, in what could be called “Passover Sunday” or “Paschal Sunday.” 

It is also interesting to note that Rabbinic Judaism and Messianic Judaism annually celebrate First-Fruits on the 16th of Nisan (Abib), two days after Passover.

The Holyday of Weeks [Pentecost] is exactly seven weeks after First-Fruits at the close of the seventh subsequent Sabbath at sunset through Sunday (the first day of the week) at sunset The Hebrew word for “weeks” is “Shavu’ot,” so it is a “Week of Weeks.” Thus, its calendar-date also varies from year to year. It is described in Leviticus 23:15-21, “15And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. 17You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first-fruits to the LORD. … 20The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first-fruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21 'And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.”  “Week of Weeks” means seven times seven days, specifically 49 days, where the next day would be 50 days, hence the Greek word for “50,” “Pentecost,” is used in Acts 2:1, “And with the arrival of the day of Pentecost, they all were of like-feeling in the same place.” So, First-Fruits and Pentecost are always on Sunday (“the first day of the week”). Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2 reflect this idea of Sunday-observance which is the basis of Revelation 1:10. For more details see Exodus 34:22 and Numbers 28:26-31 and Deuteronomy 16:9, 10.

The Messianic significance of the Holyday of Weeks was prophetically fulfilled by the Age of Israel being brought to a temporal close, where the Church began in Acts 2 at Pentecost Sunday, as the Birthday of the Church, with a special working of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Thus, the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates their Orthodox Pentecost on this same Sunday. [Rabbinic Judaism and Messianic Judaism celebrate their Pentecost (their Shavu’ot) on Sivan 6, that is, 50 days after the Holydays of Unleavened Bread and First-Fruits. Often Western (Roman Catholic) Church celebrates their Pentecost on Sunday near this date.]

The Holyday of Trumpets is on the 1st of Tishrei (the 7th month) and is called “Yom HaTeruah” in Hebrew meaning a “day of blowing of a ram’s horn.” It is described in Leviticus 23:23-25, “23Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.”’”  This holyday is the first day of the seventh month, Tishrei, however Jewish tradition has taken this, as New Year’s Day, called “Rosh HaShannah” (“head of the year”). It is mentioned in Nehemiah 8:2, 9-12, where Israel is back in their land and begins studying and heeding the Bible under Ezra.

The Messianic significance of The Holyday of Trumpets this will be that this prophetically signifies the trumpet call of the future Harpagmos (Rapture). This begins “The Day of LORD.” This trumpet call will signal a special ingathering of Israelis in a Jewish revival of Yeshua being their Mashiach at the beginning of the Jewish Seven-Year Tribulation in Revelation 6-19. The prophecy in Zechariah 12:1-12 describes this very Seven-Year period of time: Zechariah 12:6-11 – 6 "In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place -- Jerusalem. 7 " The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. 8 "In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them. 9 "It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 " And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 "In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.”  (This is why the Harpage (Rapture) will initiate the Tribulation, however the imminency requires that it may occur at anytime and not just on the specific Holyday of Trumpets during the year that it occurs.)

The Day of Atonement is on the 10th of Tishrei and is called “Yom Kippur” in Hebrew (specifically “Yom HaKippurim” that means, “Day of the Coverings” literally). It is described in Leviticus 23:26-32, “26And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ‘27Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. 28And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. 29For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. 30And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.’” It is also described further in Leviticus 16:1-34 and Numbers 29:7-11.

The Messianic significance of The Day of Atonement will prophetically be fulfilled during the future Second Coming of Christ, as He comes dressed in a robe dipped in blood to the Battle of Armageddon, as prophesied in Revelation 19:11-21. With the Battle of Armageddon and the Millennial Regeneration of the Earth (“But Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I say to you that you who follow Me, in The Regeneration when the Son of man might sit upon the throne of his glory, you yourselves also will sit upon the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’” – Matthew 19:28), Yeshua will bring the ultimate fulfillment of God’s Plan of Atonement that began on the Cross, thus fulfilling Romans 11:26, “And thus all Israel will be saved; accordingly as it stands written, ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.’” This is all prophesied in Zechariah 13:1-14:15.

The Holydays of Tabernacles (or Booths or Ingathering) is on the 15th through the 21st of Tishrei and is called “Sukkot” in Hebrew. It is described in Leviticus 23:33, 39-44, “33Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 34‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. 35On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it… 39Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. 40And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days… 42You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”’” It is described in Neh. 8; Zech. 14:1-19. 

The Messianic significance of The Holydays of Tabernacles will prophetically be fulfilled at the Second Coming of Yeshua, at the close of the future Jewish Seven-Year Tribulation, as described in Rev.19:11-21, when He comes and “tabernacles” among men for 1,000 years in His Messianic Millennial Kingdom in Zechariah 14:16-18, “16And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.  17And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain. 18If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.” This will fulfill John 1:14 again, “14And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the one-of-a-kind from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  Yeshua taught during this Holyday in John 7 of its future spirituality in verses 37-39, “37On the last day, that great day of the feast [of Tabernacles], Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ 39But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” [in His resurrection]. Joel had prophesied about this Millennial Kingdom in Joel 2:27-32, “27Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God, and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame. 28And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. 29And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 32And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.”

Biblical “New Year’s Day” is on the 1st of Nisan (aka Abib). One may call this Rosh HaShanna Torah. The Bible mentions this in Exodus 12:2, as the first day of the first month of the year, hence this would be considered the Biblical New Year’s Day. It is always the first full day after the first New Moon after the first day of Spring. It is the 14-day “countdown” to Passover from New Moon to Full Moon. This was the date of the beginning of the Tabernacle in Exodus 40:2ff. In the future Millennial Messianic Kingdom there will be four feasts celebrated in Ezekiel 45:18, where the first one in v. 18 will be “In the first day of the first month.” (There is first annual monthly celebration of “Rosh Chodesh Nisan” (Head [First] of New Nisan) that is on this day. It could be called Rosh HaShannah Torah [“Head of the Year of the Torah (Law of Moses)”]. This is not to be confused with the traditional date of Rosh HaShannah, popularly called the Jewish New Year’s Day (of the civil calendar). This date for Rosh HaShannah is really the first day of the Seventh Month in the Bible and is called The Holyday of Trumpets.

Hanukkah on Kislev 25 through Tevet 2 is an intertestamental event in 1 Maccabees 4:36-39, 54-56; 5:1; 2 Maccabees 10:1-8, that was prophesied in Daniel 8:13; 9:27; 11:21 and mentioned in John 10:22, “And it was the holiday of the Rededication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.”

Purim is Adar (II) 14-15 and commemorates the story of Esther with God’s Providence incognito. The Jews in Persia were distant from Him in their religion of “Judaism” [Esther 8:17] (somewhat, as Judaism is today), and they were unknowingly protected by Him. In the canonical text there is no reference to “God” or “LORD/Yahweh” nor “prayer.” The details of this commemoration are found in Esther 9:23-28, “23…the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them, 24because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them… 26So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur.…27that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year… 28that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.”

A convenient source of information of these dates and for the future is Hebcal which is a free Jewish calendar and holiday web site – https://www.hebcal.com