Kingdom Calendar
Did you know God has a calendar? This part of our site provides information about the most significant appointed times (mo'edim) in the Bible. These dates and how they are observed are important to God, and therefore should be important to us. All of the Biblical appointed times are prophetic and reveal great truth about the plans and counsel of the LORD God of Israel.
Below, we prioritize Hebrew months and dates, because the Hebrew/Jewish calendar is different than our modern/Gregorian calendar. Simply put, their is more annual consistency and scriptural accuracy when observing these holy days on the Hebrew calendar. For example, Rosh Hashanah is always on 1 Tishri, every year, but because the Hebrew calendar is lunar based, unlike the Gregorian calendar, Rosh Hashanah will fall on a different day in September (and sometimes in October), every year.
Winter Holidays 5784
2023-2024
The winter holidays remember special times when God acted on behalf of His people so that they would triumph over their enemies, and therefore they prophetically picture the final victory in the world to come.
Chanukah
Feast of Dedication
25 Kislev-3 Tevet, 5784
December 7-15, 2023
Significance: Also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE.
King Jesus & New Testament:
Ironically, the only reference to the festival of Chanukah occurs in the New Covenant and not the Tanakh. In John 10:22-24 we read that Jesus was at the temple during Chanukah. During a season of remembering miracles, Jesus pointed out that the works that He did attest to His claim to be the long awaited Messiah of the Jewish people. His works and character clearly displayed the true Light of whoe He was, and these works still shine to us today.
Ta-anit Esther
Fast of Esther
11 Adar II, 5784
March 21, 2024
Significance: The Fast of Esther is a Jewish fast from dawn until dusk on Purim eve, commemorating the three-day fast observed by the Jewish people in the story of Purim.
King Jesus & New Testament:
Haman is a type of Anti-Christ (or Satan) who will rise up in the last days to attempt (again) to destroy the nation of Israel. The Jewish people will again fast and prepare for God's ultimate deliverance, but this deliverance will clearly come to them at the pierced hands of Jesus Christ, the true King of Israel. There will be great rejoicing following this tribulation.
Purim
Feast of Lots
14 Adar II, 5784
March 23-24, 2024
Significance: Purim is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman in the ancient Persian Empire, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther.
King Jesus & New Testament:
According to the sages, any day that is marked by special deliverance by the LORD can be called a "Purim". In fact, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) is also known as Yom Kippurim in the Tanakh, which can be read as Yom Ke-Purim, "a day like Purim." Thus the day on which Jesus (Yeshua) sacrificed Himself on the cross is the greatest Purim of all, since through this we are eternally delivered from the hands of our enemies.
Spring Feasts & Holidays 5784
2024
Spring is the start of the Biblical Year and is marked by two of the three annual pilgrimage festivals:
Passover and Pentecost. Shavuot is held seven weeks (or fifty days) following the morning after Passover.
Rosh Chodashim
Head of the Months
Biblical New Year
1 Nisan, 5784
April 8-9, 2024
Significance: Nisan 1 is the Biblical New Years Day, the start of the month of the Exodus from Egypt and the beginning of Jewish national history. It is also the first month used for counting the festivals (mo'edim) of the Hebrew Calendar and for reckoning the years of the reign of the King of Israel.
King Jesus & New Testament:
Yom HaBikkurim
The Day of First Fruits
17 Nisan, 5784
April 23, 2024
Significance: The Israelites offered to God the first and best of their harvest from the ground as a sign of more plenty to come.
King Jesus & New Testament:
Christ's resurrection was the first fruits from the dead, a sign that believers will rise in the future.
Pesach
Passover
The Festival of Deliverance
14-15 Nisan, 5784
April 21-22, 2024
Significance: The people placed lamb's blood on their doorposts in order to be protected from the death of the firstborn (tenth plague.) The angel of death, upon seeing the blood, would "pass over" their homes.
King Jesus & New Testament:
Jesus (the Lamb of God) fulfilled the Passover through His crucifixion on the cross, and anyone who receives and appropriates His shed blood as payment for their sins will be given eternal life.
Sefirat Ha'Omer
Counting the Omer
16 Nisan-5 Sivan, 5784
April 23-June 11, 2024
Significance: Counting of the Omer is a verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days between the holidays of Passover and Shavuot (Pentecost).
Chag Matzot
Feast of Unleavend Bread
15-22 Nisan, 5784
April 22-30, 2024
Significance: The Hebrews quickly prepared to leave Egypt by baking unleavened bread. The time wasted in waiting for the yeast to rise is seen as evil; thus, all leavened foods (symbol of evil/pride) are avoided during this feast.
King Jesus & New Testament:
A reminder for us to allow no place for the influence of evil/pride in our lives.
*In modern Judaism, Passover and Unleavened Bread are seen as one holiday and referred to as "The Passover".
Shavuot
Festival of Weeks
Pentecost
6-7 Sivan, 5784
June 11-13, 2024
Significance: The festival of Shavuot (Weeks) is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (late May or early June). Shavuot commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the entire Israelite nation assembled at Mount Sinai. The holiday is one of the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals. It marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer.
King Jesus & New Testament:
Pentecost (meaning "fifty") is the fiftieth day after Christ's crucifixion, the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the church.
Summer Holidays 5784
2024
In the summer there occurs a three week period of mourning that begins with the Fast of Tammuz and ends with the tragic holiday of Tishah B'Av. The last nine days of this three week period (i.e., from Av 1 until Av 9th) are days of increased mourning.
The summer holidays conclude with the 30 days of month of Elul, a yearly season of teshuvah (repentance) that anticipates Rosh Hashanah and the fall holidays. The days of Elul are combined with the first ten days of the month of Tishri to create the Forty Days of Teshuvah that culminate with the holy day of Yom Kippur.
Tzom Tammuz
Fast of the 17th of Tammuz
17 Tammuz, 5784
July 23, 2024
Significance: In Jewish tradition, Moses smashed the tablets on the 17th of Tammuz after he came down from Sinai and found the people worshipping the Golden Calf. This tragedy was seen as prophetic, since it was on this same date that the walls of Jerusalem were smashed by the invading armies of Nebuchadnezzar, an event which led to the destruction of the temple and the exile of the people three weeks later, that is, on the 9th of Av. Today the 17th of Tammuz is commemorated as a fast day that marks the beginning of the three week period of mourning for the lost vision of Zion...
King Jesus & New Testament:
The Mishnah associates the 17th of Tammuz as the "Fast of the Fourth Month," mentioned by the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 8:19). According to the prophet, when Jesus Christ (Mashiach Yeshua) returns, Shivah Asar B'Tammuz will turn into a day of "gladness and cheerful feasts".
Fall Feasts 5785
2024
The winter holidays remember special times when God acted on behalf of His people so that they would triumph over their enemies, and therefore they prophetically picture the final victory in the world to come.
Yom Teruah
(Trumpets)
Rosh Hashanah
1-2 Tishri, 5785
October 2-4, 2024
Significance: The Israelites would observe the new year and the new moon with the blowing of shofars (trumpets), sacrifices, and a call to repentance before the Lord.
King Jesus & New Testament:
For Christians, trumpets foreshadow the new beginning that will be ushered in by the second coming of Yeshua to the Earth.
Shemini Atzeret
Prayer for the Latter Rain
22 Tishri, 5785
October 23-24, 2024
Significance: The seven days of Sukkot end with Hoshana Rabba are immediately followed by another holiday called Shemini Atzeret, "the eighth day of assembly." The sages interpreted this to mean that God asks all who made pilgrimage for Sukkot to tarry (atzeret, which comes from the Hebrew root word meaning "to hold back") with Him one additional day.
King Jesus & New Testament:
Shemini Atzeret suggests the image of remaining or abiding (atzeret) an extra "day: with the Lord, beyond the seven days of fullness represented by the seven days of Sukkot. Since Sukkot represents the millenial reign of Jesus in the soon-coming Kingdom, Shemini Atzeret represents the eternal state of perfection, the Day of the new heavens and the new earth.
Yom Kippur
Day of Atonement
10 Tishri, 5785
October 11-12, 2024
Significance: Once a year, the high priest would offer an animal sacrifice to the Lord to temporarily atone for (cover) the sins of the people. He would sprinkle the animal's blood on the ark of the covenant and release a live goat into the wilderness as a symbol of the release of sins.
King Jesus & New Testament:
This day foreshadowed the time when Christ would permanently remove our sin through his death and resurrection from the grave.
Simchat Torah
Celebrating the Torah
23 Tishri, 5785
October 24-25, 2024
Significance: Simchat Tora is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. Simchat Torah is a component of the Biblical Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret (“Eighth Day of Assembly”), which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei (mid-September to early October on the Gregorian calendar). In Israel, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are both celebrated on Tishri 22, but in the communities outside of Israel, Simchat Torah is on Tishri 23.
This is when we start and restart our Awakening Ecclesia Reading Plan!
King Jesus & New Testament:
Since Jesus is the Living Word (the True Torah, written upon our hearts so that we can truly embrace the Truth given from God) we should likewise celebrate the Joy of Torah in our lives.
Sukkot
Feast of Tabernacles
15-22 Tishri, 5785
October 16-23, 2024
Significance: After leaving Egypt, God provided the Hebrews with food and shelter during their wanderings in the wilderness. This eight-day harvest festival was also called the feast of Booths becuase the Isrealites built small, makeshift dwellings to commemorate God's provisions.
King Jesus & New Testament:
In the millennial kingdom, Christ will provide dwelling places for his people. This feast also signifies the Son of God, or God's provision, becoming flesh and dwelling (or tabernacling) with mankind.