Monthly Letter, March 2016

March 16, 2016

Dear Brethren,

We have just completed a new booklet about the Calculated Hebrew Calendar (CHC), God’s Sacred Calendar—Which Is the True Calendar of God? This is an easy-to-understand booklet that aptly balances the in-depth calendar material we already have. If you would like a copy, please contact us. The booklet is also downloadable from cbcg.org.

In addition to the CHC, this booklet addresses the so-called “Lunar Sabbath” calendar, showing how it is completely wrong. This humanly-devised calendar scheme loses one to three days each month, because those days are never counted. It completely rejects God’s perpetual seven-day weekly count and the true seventh-day Sabbath.

God has created all things—the heavens and the earth, the plants and the animals, and the human family! He created time and has designed the CHC so that every day is counted. Thus, every appointed time or holy day works in harmony with the perpetual seven-day cycle. This weekly cycle has never changed from the foundation of the earth!

The manna given to Israel demonstrates that God has never changed the weekly cycle. For the forty years the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai, God rained manna down from heaven as food—it was actually angels’ food (Psa. 78:25). They were to gather it for the first six days of the week, but God never sent any manna on the seventh day, the Sabbath. They were not to attempt to gather manna on the Sabbath, because the Sabbath is a holy day from creation. Notice Moses’ instructions from God concerning the manna and the Sabbath day. “And Moses said, ‘Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today, you shall not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, in it there shall be none’

“And it came to pass that some of the people went out on the seventh day in order to gather, but they did not find any. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See, because the Lord has given you the Sabbath, therefore He gives you the bread of two days on the sixth day. Let each one stay in his place. Do not let any one go out of his place on the seventh day.’ So the people rested on the seventh day. And the house of Israel called the name of it Manna. And it was like coriander seed, white. And the taste of it was like wafers with honey…. And the children of Israel ate manna forty years until they came to a habitable land. They ate manna until they came into the borders of the land of Canaan” (Ex. 16: 25-31, 35).

From this account we can conclude that for forty years God sent manna for Israel six days a week, with a double portion on the sixth day to be used on the Sabbath. But God never once sent manna on the seventh-day Sabbath. This means every day was counted; not one day was left out, as does the “Lunar Sabbath” calendar. If even a single day is not counted, the perpetual seven-day cycle established by God is completely disrupted. Thus, the “Lunar Sabbath” calendar actually changes the true weekly Sabbath, making it fall on any day of the week. The result is that the “Sabbath” shifts to a different day of the week every month! This is perhaps worse than Sunday-keeping—which is absolutely wrong, but at least maintains the weekly cycle!

The Perpetual Sabbath-Holy Day Covenant: God actually established a perpetual Sabbath covenant, which shows that the seven-day cycle cannot be changed. Remember, no man has the authority to change any of God’s laws! What God has commanded and ordained, only He can change. And when He does change a law, that law is always elevated from the letter to the higher standard of the spirit of the law (Rom. 7:6). This is what God did with the sacrificial laws and the priesthood laws. Instead of animal sacrifices at an earthly temple, we have Jesus’ shed blood as our spiritual sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins (Heb. 10). Moreover, God raised Jesus from the dead to be our eternal spiritual High Priest in the heavenly temple, at the right hand of God the Father, to make intercession for us (Heb. 7).

Concerning the Law of God, we see that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy of Isaiah: “The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake; He will magnify the Law and make it glorious” (Isa. 42:21). Early in His ministry, Jesus began teaching the meaning of obeying the laws and commandments of God in the “spirit of the law” (Matt. 5). He taught that hatred became murder in the heart, and that sexual lust became adultery in the heart (verses 21-22, 27-28). Thus, the laws and commandments of God have been raised to a higher spiritual level of obedience, rather than the mere letter of the law under the Old Covenant. The Law is now applicable not only to our actions, but also to our thoughts! This is how Jesus magnified, fulfilled, and made the Law of God complete! Indeed, far from abolishing the Law and the Prophets—as Protestants would have you believe—Jesus made the laws and commandments of God far more binding, because He raised them to a higher spiritual level!

This also applies to the weekly Sabbath, annual holy days, and feasts of God. In fact, it is through the keeping of the Sabbath and holy days that God reveals His plan for mankind! Thus, God’s Sabbath commands become even more important—rather than being diminished or eliminated as is claimed by Orthodox Christianity. However, this vital knowledge can only be understood as we love God the Father and Jesus Christ in humble obedience by continually keeping the weekly Sabbath and the annual holy days. Only then can we grow in grace and knowledge!

Considering all that we have just seen, it is absolutely clear that God has never changed the weekly Sabbath or His appointed times of the annual holy days. In fact, God’s Sabbath and holy days are actually bound by a special covenant—to be kept perpetually. Thus, they CAN NEVER BE ABOLISHED! Notice God’s command to Moses: “And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, ‘Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, “Truly you shall keep My Sabbaths [these are not the Jews’ Sabbaths, they belong to God], for it [the keeping of God’s Sabbaths] is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations to know that I am the Lord Who sanctifies you” ’ ” (Ex. 31:12-13).

The phrase “My Sabbaths” includes all the annual holy days, because all of God’s holy days are also Sabbaths; hence, all the feasts of God are included. Furthermore, the keeping of God’s Sabbaths is a sign between God and His people that He is the one Who sanctifies us. These are powerful words! If we do not keep the Sabbaths of God, we are not sanctified by God! Moreover, those who keep any other days are sinning against God—as “sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4, KJV) and “sin is lawlessness” (FV). This includes Sunday and the holidays of this world. (If you do not have our book Occult Holidays or God’s Holy Days—Which?, you need to request it. This book is an in-depth study—utilizing both the Old and New Testaments and historical research—of the satanic origins of Sunday-keeping and the popular holidays of this world. The book also examines the scriptural teachings on the Sabbath and holy days of God.)

Continuing in Exodus 31, God gives further instructions concerning the seventh-day Sabbath: “You shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone that defiles it shall surely be put to death [“the wages of sin is death”—Rom. 6:23], for whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a PERPETUAL COVENANT. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever [it also applies to the people of God today, because we are “spiritual Israel”]; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed” (verses 14-17).

Perpetual means it never ends! The Sabbath did not cease because Jesus came, as Orthodox Christianity claims. The New Testament clearly shows that Jesus and His apostles, including Paul, taught and kept the seventh-day Sabbath and annual holy days of God. Jesus clearly taught the apostles from the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms: “And He said to them, ‘These are the words that I spoke to you when I was yet with you, that all the things which were written concerning Me in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:44-45).

Contrary to the teachings of mainstream Christianity, Jesus did not teach that He came to “do away with” the Law or the Prophets. The truth is, at the beginning of His ministry He made it absolutely clear that that would never happen: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until the heaven and the earth shall pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no way pass from the Law until everything has been fulfilled. Therefore, whoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever shall practice and teach them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:17-19).

The meaning in the Greek is even more profound and emphatic because these words are emphasized with two powerful negative particles. The first is me, which is the negation of will, wish, or thought. As such, it denies an idea and conveys the following meaning: “do not ever let this thought come into your mind”—and is translated “Do not think.” The second is ouk (sometimes spelled ou) andis the negation of, or the denial of, a proposition or fact, which means there will never be the reality of such an event. Here it is translated “I did not come to abolish” (verse 17)—i.e., that event will never take place!

After declaring the heavens and earth as perpetual witnesses to the veracity of His words, which they have done since creation, Jesus said “one jot or tittle shall in no way pass away.” Here Jesus uses both of these negative particles together, which is the double negation ou me, translated “in no way.” When used together for emphasis they express the meaning of “the absolute impossibility of it ever happening”—even into the ages of eternity!

The 27 books of the New Testament, combined with the Old Testament, completes the Word of God (Col. 1:25). Therefore, true Christians will be keeping God’s weekly Sabbath and the annual holy days—in accordance with God’s sacred calendar.

At creation, God set His appointed times on the fourth day of the week (Gen. 1:14-19). They belong to Him, and He established them for His people to keep—Old and New Testament: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, “Concerning the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My appointed feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings” ’ ” (Lev. 23:1-3).

Notice that God declares the weekly, seventh-day Sabbath as His first appointed time. He declares that these are the “appointed feasts of the Lord.” They belong to Him. He created them and He owns them. This means that no man has the power or authority to change them or proclaim that they have been abolished. To claim otherwise is a huge satanic lie!

Men steal God’s appointed times by rejecting them and doing their own pleasures and business on His holy days. Likewise, they steal from God when they substitute Sunday for the true Sabbath and replace God’s annual holy days and feasts with their holidays.

Continuing in Leviticus 23, God then revealed His annual appointed feasts: “These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim in their appointed seasons” (verse 4). Throughout the remainder of Leviticus 23, God gives details on the various appointed holy days, including their names and when they are to be observed. (See the summary of annual holy days at the end of this letter.)

These annual feasts and holy days are the framework that outlines God’s plan of salvation for mankind. Beginning with Passover, each feast and holy day reveals various aspects of God’s plan. Paul writes, “Even the mystery that has been hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His saints” (Col. 1:26). (If you do not have our book God’s Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days, you may request it and we will send it to you at no cost.) The true meaning of these appointed times of God is absolutely fantastic! It is only through the keeping of these holy days that we are able to understand God’s plan for mankind. Yet this understanding remains hidden from the world—because they do not recognize or keep God’s appointed holy days!

The Prime Importance of the Passover

Old Testament Passover: In the Old Testament, the actual origins of the Passover began with God’s covenant with Abraham. Over 400 years later, when God was ready to bring the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt, He utilized the Passover night—the 14th day of the first month, according to the CHC—to bring His last plague against the Egyptians’ firstborn, of both man and beast. But He “passed over” the houses of the children of Israel, sparing their firstborn, of both man and beast. Thus, this feast day is called the “Passover.” On the next night, the 15th, after the Israelites had gathered at Ramses, God began their exodus out of Egypt, toward Mount Sinai, where He later gave them the Ten Commandments and other laws.

God commanded the children of Israel to observe the Passover as a special feast to commemorate His sparing of the firstborn. (Since it is beyond the scope of this letter to fully explain the details of the Passover, you may request our book The Christian Passover. It is an exhaustive study of the Passover in the Old and New Testaments—versus the traditions and myths of the Jews. It is an essential book for Christian growth. We will send it at no cost.)

New Testament Passover: From the days of Christ and the apostles, salvation for the true Christian begins with Passover. It is essential to understand that there can be no salvation without Jesus Christ, the true spiritual Passover Lamb of God.

The apostle Peter reveals that forgiveness of sin and redemption only come through the shed blood of Christ. He writes: “Knowing that you were not redeemed by corruptible things, by silver or gold, from your futile way of living, inherited by tradition from your forefathers; but by the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot; Who truly was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was manifested in these last times for your sakes; even for you who through Him do believe in God, Who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God” (I Peter 1:18-21).

The apostle Paul clearly states that “Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us” (I Cor. 5:7). Why did he write that Jesus was sacrificed “for us”? Who are the “us”? They are the ones who have answered God’s call and have repented of their sins—and have been forgiven their sins through the shed blood of Jesus. Plus, they have been baptized by full immersion in water and have received the Holy Spirit. This is what God requires in order for a person to enter into a New Covenant relationship with God the Father and Jesus (Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:1-7; 8:9-16).

In the counterfeit ceremonies of the Catholic “Sacrifice of the Mass” or the Protestant “Lord’s Supper,” anyone who comes can participate. But not so with the Passover. Those who are not in this New Covenant relationship cannot partake of the true Christian Passover ceremony. (This is more fully explained in our booklet Water Baptism and our book The Day Jesus the Christ Died. Write or call for your free copies.)

Jesus Instituted the New Covenant Passover: Jesus Christ is our Passover. He is called our Passover because He was crucified on the Passover day. This day was the 14th day of the first month of the CHC, which was April 5, 30 AD. On the Roman Calendar, the Passover day falls in March or April. God reckons each day from sunset to sunset. Therefore, on the night of April 4, after sunset, which began the Passover day—the night of the 14th day of the first month, as it was getting dark—Jesus gathered with His apostles to observe the Passover. This was the night Jesus instituted the New Covenant Passover ceremony.

There are three parts to observing the true New Covenant Christian Passover.

Part One—Footwashing: At the beginning of Jesus’ last Passover, He washed the feet of the apostles. When He had finished and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me the Teacher and the Lord, and you speak rightly, because I am. Therefore, if I, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also are duty-bound to wash one another’s feet; for I have given you an example, to show that you also should do exactly as I have done to you.

“Truly, truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, nor a messenger greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:12-17).

Part Two—Eating of the Unleavened Bread: For the Passover ceremony, Jesus declared that the broken unleavened bread was symbolic of His broken body, which was to be broken by scourging and crucifixion. “And He took bread; and after giving thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body, which is given for you. This do in the remembrance of Me’ ” (Luke 22:19).

Paul also instructed the Gentile Christians in Corinth on how to observe the Passover. He writes: “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and after giving thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body, which is being broken for you. This do in the remembrance of Me’ ” (I Cor. 11:23-24).

Part Three—Drinking the Wine: After they had finished eating the broken bread, Jesus gave them wine, which was symbolic of His blood that He would shed when scourged and crucified. “And He took the cup; and after giving thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘All of you drink of it; for this is My blood, the blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins’ ” (Matt. 26:27-28).

Paul also gave these same instructions to the Corinthians: “In like manner, He also took thecup after He had supped, saying, ‘This is the cup of the New Covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in the remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you solemnly proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes” (I Cor. 11:25-26). The phrase “as often as” has caused some confusion, but it actually means once each year at the Passover, until Jesus returns.

Jesus made it absolutely binding that true Christians are to keep the New Covenant Christian Passover. If anyone in a true covenant relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ does not keep the Passover—with the bread, symbolic of His flesh, and partake of the wine, symbolic of His shed blood—that person does not have eternal life: “ ‘I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the desert, but they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die.

“ ‘I am the living bread, which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is even My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’ Because of this, the Jews were arguing with one another, saying, ‘How is He able to give us His flesh to eat?’

“Therefore, Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day.

“ ‘For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood is dwelling in Me, and I in him. As the living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father, so also the one who eats Me shall live by Me’ ” (John 6:48-57).

In his instructions on keeping the Passover, Paul admonishes us to examine ourselves before God (I Cor. 11:26-32). While we all have sins that we repent of throughout the year, we are not to be living in sin or practicing sin. If this is the case, we need to repent of such attitudes or conditions and draw close to God in prayer and repentance. Moreover, we need to realize that all worthiness comes from God the Father and Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Below is a short summary of the appointed feasts and holy days of God, as well as the dates for this year. For the Passover this year, it is to be observed beginning on the late evening of Thursday night, April 21.

Brethren, we love you, and we continue to pray for you daily that God will bless you, heal you, inspire you, and give you strength to face your trials. We pray that you will love God the Father and Jesus Christ with all your heart, all your mind, and all your spirit and being. Thank you for your love, prayers, and faithful support with your tithes and offerings. May God continue to bless you and yours in everything.

With love in Christ Jesus,

Fred R. Coulter

FRC

Upcoming New Site Design for CBCG.org

There will soon be a new CBCG.org Web site with a completely new design. It will still include all current material and have a familiar structure, but will feature major improvements.

The most important change will be a newly designed Calculated Hebrew Calendar program. This new user-friendly program will allow visitors quick and easy access to thousands of years of correct holy day dates. (There will be a link to the original Java-based calendar for those who still wish to use it.) This new program has long been a top CBCG priority.

Importantly, the new site will be mobile-friendly—making it compatible with personal devices such as iPads, tablets, and smart phones.

Plus, our books and booklets will be more accessible. We have included all of them as PDF (print format), ePub (Android, Apple, and Sony Reader), and Mobi (Kindle). There will be several new audio books and mp3 read-along pages, as well as printer-friendly pages for those who want to print transcripts.

When we began to create the original CBCG site back in 1999, there was a learning curve in determining how to best make the transition from a world primarily dominated by paper to the digital world. Also, we had to learn how to make the transition from cassette audiotapes to digital audio. All of that took quite a bit of time.

During our first year, we averaged just over 300 visits a day. Today, with over 1,800 sections on the site, we are averaging around 3,000 visits per day. We are projected to exceed one million visits in 2016. All of the CBCG Web sites combined should exceed 1,800,000 visits. Thank you to all of our loyal visitors!—Ron Cary, webmaster

God’s Annual Feasts and Holy Days

The Scriptures teach that there are seven annual feasts and holy days which are ordained by God to be observed as special commanded convocations. These feasts and holy days portray God’s plan of salvation for mankind. The observance of these holy convocations is a sign between God and His people. God’s annual feasts and holy days were observed by His people during Old Testament times. In the New Testament, we find that Jesus Christ’s entire ministry was centered around the spiritual meaning of these holy days. The New Testament apostolic Church faithfully observed these annual feasts and holy days. The Scriptures reveal that they will be observed by all mankind after the return of Jesus Christ.

As the holy days are annual Sabbath days, they may fall on any day of the week (except Pentecost, which always falls on a Sunday). When a holy day falls on a weekly Sabbath, the special observance of the annual holy day takes precedence. God’s feasts and holy days are to be observed from sunset to sunset in accordance with the Calculated Hebrew Calendar as preserved by the Levitical Jews. The seven annual feasts and holy days are as follows:

List of All the Commanded Holy Days and Feasts of God

God’s Annual Holy Days for 2016

First Day of Sacred Year April 9 Feast of Trumpets October 3

Passover April 22* Day of Atonement October 12

Night to Be Much Observed April 22nd**

Feast of Unleavened Bread April 23-29 Feast of Tabernacles October 17-23

Pentecost June 12 Last Great Day October 24

Passover is observed the previous evening.

** Beginning at sunset

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