The Face of YHVH

Who has seen the face of YHVH?

Moses (Moishe) talked face to face with YHVH (LORD) in the Tabernacle (Exodus 33:9-11). Yet, YHVH told Moses that no man could see His face and live when Moses asked to see His face on the mountain (Exodus 33:20-23).

After that, YHVH said that Moses saw His form and face (similitude) when He talked with Moses (Numbers 12:6-8).

How can all of these things be true?  Is this an irreconcilable contradiction?  Or have people misunderstood the nature of YHVH?

The first clue is when the Creator created man and woman.  The Creator said, let us make man in our image, then created man and woman in the image of the Creator (Genesis 1:26-27).   How can man and woman both be created in the image of the Creator?  And who is this "us"?

The answer is right in the verse in plain Hebrew.  The word translated as God is "Elohim", which is plural and literally "Gods" aka "Mighty Ones".  This word is not just used of the Creator.

The Hebrew word "El" is used of an idol god (masculine singular).   The feminine singular of "El", "Eloha", is used of  the idol goddess of the Zidonians.  The plural of "El", "Elohim", is used of the idol gods (plural) of other nations, angels, and human judges.

So, the Creator is plural, not singular.  This is why the Creator could make both man and woman in the image of the Creator.  The plural Creator, Elohim, is collectively called YHVH in the summary of the creation work.

So, does this mean there are multiple Gods in the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law)?  Not exactly.

The answer to how Elohim (plural) can be one YHVH is found in the Sh'ma (Deuteronomy 6:4).  In the Sh'ma, the Hebrew word "yachid" is not used of YHVH, but rather the Hebrew word "echad".

The Hebrew word "yachid" means "uniquely one".  It is used of Isaac being the only son of promise given to Abraham.  It is like referring to an individual instead of a team.

The Hebrew word "echad" means "joined together as one".  It is used of the bodies of Adam and Eve being joined together as one body in sex.  It is like referring to a team collectively, instead of referring to each individual separately on that team.

So, the Sh'ma literally says, "Listen up Israel, YHVH our Gods are joined together as one YHVH."

So, the fact that YHVH exists as more than one God joined together to form one YHVH is right in the Sh'ma in plain Hebrew.  YHVH is one entity composed of individual Gods.

YHVH is more than just a team.  None of the individual Gods that make up YHVH can be separated from each other, any more than wet can be separated from water.

Who are these individual Gods?

The first one who is clearly identified is the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) at the beginning of the creation narrative (Genesis 1:2).

The second one is the Son, who had a form like a man in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:25).  He is the Son of Elohim.

["Elah" in Aramaic is the same as the singular "El" in Hebrew, but "Elahim" in Aramaic is the same as the plural "Elohim" in Hebrew. Note that the plural form is used in this passage, not the singular form.]

If one God is the Son, then there must be another God that is the Father.

The Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) said that His Son would rule over a Kingdom forever (2 Samuel 7:13-14).  This is the same Son that the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) said He would beget to rule over the whole Earth (Psalm 2:7-9).  This same Son would be called the mighty God and the everlasting Father when he was born as a man (Isaiah 9:6).

[The Son is called the singular "El" (God), not the plural "Elohim" (Gods), in this passage.]

So, the Son of the Father of Truth existed and appeared to people before he was born as a man.

The Father of Truth speaks to people through His Son (Hebrews 1:2-5).  The Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) is His Son (Hebrews 4:14).

So, when people saw the face of YHVH, they saw the Man of Truth.  No person has seen the face of the Father of Truth, except the Man of Truth (John 6:45-47).

That is how Moses could see YHVH face to face, but not be able to see the face of YHVH and live.  He saw the face of the Man of Truth, but he could not see the face of the Father of Truth.

Moses is not the only one to have seen the face of YHVH. 

YHVH appeared to Abraham to make a covenant with him as God (Genesis 17:1-2).  Abraham (Abram) heard the words of Gods when he was promised all the land of Canaan (Genesis 17:3-8).  YHVH spoke to Abraham with a command for every man in his house to be circumcised (Genesis 17:9-14).  Abraham heard His voice concerning Sarah (Sarai) having a son (Genesis 17:15-18).  Abraham heard His voice say that the covenant would be made with Isaac (Yitzakh) (Genesis 17:19-22).

[Abraham saw the face of YHVH, who was one God (El).  Yet he heard the words of Gods.]

How could Abraham talk to one God who was called YHVH, and still hear the words of at least two Gods?

The Man of Truth only spoke the words that the Father of Truth gave him to speak (John 12:49-50).   So, whenever the Man of Truth spoke to someone they were hearing both his words and the words of the Father of Truth.

This is when Abraham rejoiced to see the face of the Man of Truth (John 8:56).  The enemies of the Man of Truth understood that he was saying that Abraham saw him when Abraham saw the face of YHVH (John 8:57-59).

Jacob (Yah'acov aka Israel) wrestled with a man all night (Genesis 32:23-26).  Then that man changed his name to Israel (Genesis 32:27-28).  Afterwards, Jacob stated that he had seen the face of Gods and lived (Genesis 32:29-30).

[The word used here is "Elohim".]

How could Jacob wrestle with a man and say that he had seen the face of Gods?

Whoever has seen the face of the Man of Truth has seen the face of the Father of Truth (John 14:9).  The Man of Truth is an exact replication of the Father of Truth (Hebrews 1:3).

So when Jacob saw the face of the Man of Truth, which was the same face as the Father of Truth, he saw the face of Gods.

So, whenever someone saw the face of YHVH, they were seeing the Man of Truth.

The Man of Truth appeared to Abraham (Abram) and promised him the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:7).  Later, he appeared to announce the birth of Isaac and the destruction of Sodom (Genesis 18).

The Man of Truth appeared to Isaac at Gerar to tell him to stay there during the famine, instead of going to Egypt (Genesis 26:1-3).  He then appeared to Isaac at Beersheba to confirm the covenant of Abraham with him (Genesis 26:23-25).

The Man of Truth appeared again to Jacob and again changed his name to Israel (Genesis 35:9-10).  He then promised to give the descendants of Israel the land that had been promised to Abraham and Isaac (Yitzakh) (Genesis 35:11-13).  He promised to make his descendants a multitude (Genesis 48:3-4).

The Man of Truth appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by the name of God Almighty when he gave them these promises, but he never revealed his name of YHVH to them (Exodus 6:3-4).

[His name to them was El Shaddai - a single almighty God, not YHVH.]

The Man of Truth appeared to Balaam and gave him a word to speak to Balak (Numbers 23:4-5).  He met him a second time with a second message for Balak (Numbers 23:16-17).

The Man of Truth appeared to Samuel when he was a boy (1 Samuel 3:10-11).  He appeared again to him in Shiloh when Samuel was a grown man (1 Samuel 3:19-21).

The Man of Truth appeared to Solomon after he had dedicated the Temple (2 Chronicles 7:9-12).

The Man of Truth appeared to Isaiah (Yesha'yahu) the Prophet of Truth on his throne in Heaven (Isaiah 6:1-5).

The Man of Truth appeared to Jeremiah (Yirmeyahu) the Prophet of Truth with a message to tell the people of Israel that he still loved them despite their sin and that he would cause them to know joy again (Jeremiah 31:3-4).

The Man of Truth appeared to Ezekiel (Yechezq'el) the Prophet of Truth as a man on fire (Ezekiel 1:26-28).

Four hundred years later, people saw the face of YHVH when the Man of Truth was growing up.

Joseph and Mary saw the face of YHVH when the Man of Truth was born in a manger (Luke 2:4-7).  The shepherds saw the face of the face of YHVH when they came to the manger (Luke 2:16-18).

When the Man of Truth was forty days old, Simeon saw the face of YHVH in the Temple (Luke 2:22-28). Anna the Prophetess of Truth also saw the face of YHVH there (Luke 2:36-38).

Then Joseph and Mary returned with the Man of Truth to Nazareth, where all who came to their home could see the face of YHVH (Luke 2:39-40).

When the Magi came to the house in Bethlehem to give gifts to the Man of Truth as a young child, they saw the face of YHVH (Matthew 2:8-11).  After they left, the family of the Man of Truth fled to Egypt, where the people there saw the face of YHVH (Matthew 2:13-15).

After Herod the Great died, they returned to the land of Israel, where more people saw the face of YHVH (Matthew 2:19-21).  Then they returned to Galilee, where the Man of Truth grew up, and many people saw the face of YHVH (Matthew 2:22-23).

Joseph and Mary took the Man of Truth with them to Jerusalem for Passover every year and the people of Jerusalem saw the face of YHVH (Luke 2:41).  The religious professionals at the Temple saw the face of YHVH, when they discussed the scriptures with twelve year old Man of Truth (Luke 2:42-47).

Afterwards, the Man of Truth returned with Joseph and Mary to Nazareth, where he grew into a man and everyone in Nazareth saw the face of YHVH (Luke 2:51-52). 

Many people saw the face of YHVH when the Man of Truth made himself known to the world.

When the Spirit of Truth landed on the Man of Truth at his baptism, the Father of Truth declared him to be His beloved Son, who had the face of YHVH (Luke 3:21-22). Forty-three days later, everyone at the wedding in Cana saw the face of YHVH when he turned the water into wine (John 2:7-11).

Then the Man of Truth came into the lands of Zebulon and Nephthalim, where the people who sat in darkness saw a great light when they saw the face of YHVH (Matthew 4:12-17). Then he called some fishermen and they left everything to follow him, when they saw the face of YHVH (Matthew 4:18-22).

When the Man of Truth began his ministry, great multitudes saw the face of YHVH (Matthew 4:23-26).  When he taught in the synagogues of Galilee, people saw the face of YHVH (Mark 1:39).

When the Man of Truth delivered the Sermon on the Mount, great multitudes saw the face of YHVH (Matthew 5:1-2).  When he healed great multitudes in the plain, they saw the face of YHVH (Luke 6:17-19).

Multitudes saw the face of YHVH at the baptism services led by the Man of Truth in Judea (John 4:1-3).

The outcast Samaritan woman saw the face of YHVH when she talked to the Man of Truth at the well (John 4:6-9).  All of the despised Samaritans in her village saw the face of YHVH when he stayed with them until he returned to Galilee (John 4:40-43).

When the Man of Truth went up to the mountain to meet Moses and Elijah (Eliyahu), his three disciples saw his face shined brighter than the Sun because it was the face of YHVH (Matthew 17:1-5).

When Lazarus was called out of the grave by the Man of Truth, he saw the face of YHVH (John 11:39-45).  Great multitudes saw the face of YHVH, when they welcomed him as the Messiah of Israel, because he had raised Lazarus from the dead, (John 12:12-18).

Many more people saw the face of YHVH when the Man of Truth spent his final days in the Temple. 

The money changers and the religious professionals saw the face of YHVH when they were confronted by the Man of Truth in the Temple (Matthew 21:12-16).  Both his enemies and the attentive crowds saw the face of YHVH when he taught daily in the Temple (Luke 19:47-48).

The religious professionals saw the face of YHVH when they questioned the Man of Truth about his authority to teach in the Temple (Matthew 21:23-27).  His enemies saw the face of YHVH when he spoke parables against them to the multitudes in the Temple (Matthew 21:45-46).

The multitudes in the Temple saw the face of YHVH when the Man of Truth warned them against the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-3).  Many people saw the face of YHVH near the Temple treasury, when he commended the widow woman for giving more than the rich (Mark 12:41-44).

Some Greeks saw the face of YHVH when they sought out the Man of Truth in the Temple (John 12:20-22).  Then he declared that the time of suffering was at hand and the Father of Truth gloried his name out of Heaven, so all in the Temple who heard His voice saw the face of YHVH (John 12:23-29).

Even more people saw the face of YHVH when the Man of Truth was treated like a criminal.

A multitude of soldiers and temple guards in the garden that night witnessed Judas kiss the face of YHVH, when he betrayed the Man of Truth (Luke 22:47-48).  They beheld the face of YHVH, when the Man of Truth restored the ear that had been severed from the servant of the High Priest (Luke 22:49-51).  The chief priests, Temple captains, and elders of Israel saw the face of YHVH, when they took him to be tried by the High Priest (Luke 22:52-54).

At the house of Annas, the former High Priest, one of the officers of the Temple guards struck the face of YHVH, when he did not like the answer that the Man of Truth gave (John 18:22-24).

Then the many people lied before the face of YHVH, when they bore false witness against the Man of Truth (Mark 14:55-59).  Then Caiphas the High Priest looked upon the face of YHVH, when he put the Man of Truth on trial and those at his house condemned him to die (Mark 14:60-64).  They struck the blindfolded face of YHVH, when they mocked his claim to be a Prophet of Truth (Mark 14:65).

When the sun rose, the Man of Truth was taken to the Sanhedrin, who condemned him because he said that they were looking at the face of YHVH (Luke 22:66-71).

Then the Sanhedrin led him to Pilate to accuse him of many things, because they did not believe that they saw the face of YHVH (Mark 15:1-5).  Then Pilate sent him to Herod Antipas, because he found no guilt when he looked in face of YHVH (Luke 23:4-7).

Herod looked upon the face of YHVH, when he questioned the Man of Truth before mocking him and sending him back to Pilate in a robe fit for a king (Luke 23:8-11).

Pilate looked into the face of YHVH, when he brought the Man of Truth into the Judgment Hall to personally question him and found no fault in him (John 18:33-38).

When the multitudes cried for Barabbas to be released and the Man of Truth to be crucified, they saw the face of YHVH (Matthew 27:20-23).  When Pilate washed his hands in a bowl of water and the crowd took responsibility for the death of the Man of Truth, they all saw the face of YHVH (Matthew 27:24-25).  The Roman soldiers scourged the Man of Truth, then spit in the face of YHVH, when they placed a crown of thorns on his head, dressed him in a royal robe, and placed a reed in his hand to mock his claim to be King of the Jews (Matthew 27:26-30).

When Pilate presented the Man of Truth wearing the royal robe to the Chief Priests and the officers of the Temple, they looked upon the blood covered face of YHVH and demanded that he be crucified (John 19:5-7).  When Pilate tried one last time to release the Man of Truth, the unbelieving Jews demanded that the King of the Jews be crucified, and chose Caesar as their only king as they looked upon the face of YHVH (John 19:12-15).

Then more people saw the face of YHVH when the Man of Truth was put to death.

Simon the Cyrenian look into the battered face of YHVH when he carried the cross for the Man of Truth (Luke 23:26).  A great multitude of believing Jews wept for him when they saw the battered face of YHVH (Luke 23:27).

The soldiers looked into the battered face of YHVH when they offered the Man of Truth wine mixed with myrrh (Mark 15:23). After they crucified him between two thieves, and he asked his Father to forgive them, they saw the forgiving face of YHVH (Luke 23:33-34).  Yet, after looking into the forgiving face of YHVH, they divided his clothes between them and gambled for his tallit (John 19:23-24).

Those who looked up to the see accusation of "King of the Jews" nailed above the head of the Man of Truth, looked up and saw the battered face of YHVH (Matthew 27:37).  Those who mocked him for this accusation while he was dying on the cross, laughed in the battered face of YHVH (Matthew 27:39-44). When one of the thieves repented of mocking him, and was told that he would join him in Paradise that day, he saw the forgiving face of YHVH (Luke 23:39-43).

When the Man of Truth told John the Jew (Yochanon aka the Apostle John) to take care of his mother, Mary saw concern for her welfare in the face of YHVH (John 19:25-27).

When the sky went dark from noon to 3 pm, no one could see the battered face of YHVH (Matthew 27:45).

When the Man of Truth cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", they thought that he was calling for Elijah (Eliyahu), because they did not realize that they were looking at the battered face of YHVH (Mark 15:34-35).  While the soldiers waited to see if Elijah would come to save him, they lifted up vinegar in a spunge to the battered face of YHVH (Mark 15:36).

When the Man of Truth cried out, and there was an earthquake when he died, the Roman solders feared, because they knew that they had seen the face of YHVH on the cross (Matthew 27:48-54).  When he cried out and the Temple viel tore from top to bottom, the Centurion knew that he had seen the face of YHVH on the cross (Mark 15:37-39).  This Centurion knew that the Man of Truth had the face of YHVH on the cross, when this righteous man cried out in full strength and died suddenly (Luke 23:46-47). 

When the soldiers pierced his side to make sure that he was dead, they looked up at the lifeless face of YHVH (John 19:33-34).

The formerly mocking crowds beat their chests in sorrow, because the events of his death showed that the Man of Truth had the lifeless face of YHVH (Luke 23:48).

Only a few people saw the lifeless face of YHVH when the Man of Truth was buried.

As evening that started the High Sabbath approached, Joseph of Arimathaea asked Pilate for the body of the Man of Truth, who had the Roman Centurion give it to him upon confirming that he was already dead, who was the last Roman to see the lifeless face of YHVH (Mark 15:42-45).  Then Nicodemus helped Joseph prepare the body of the Man of Truth for burial and buried him in the tomb, being the last two people to see the lifeless face of YHVH (John 19:39-42).

Some of the women prepared additional spice to be applied to the body of the Man of Truth after the weekly Sabbath, when they planned to see the lifeless face of YHVH (Luke 23:55-56).

However, the enemies of the Man of Truth asked Pilate to put a watch to guard his tomb to prevent anyone from stealing the body and claiming he rose again, assuring that no one else would see the lifeless face of YHVH (Matthew 27:62-66).

However, this was not the last time that people saw the face of YHVH!

While Mary Magdalene headed towards the grave with another woman to arrive around sunrise of the day after the weekly Sabbath, there was a great earthquake when an Angel of Truth descended and rolled away the stone, causing the Roman soldiers to fall down as dead men, so they could not see the resurrected face of YHVH (Matthew 28:1-4). 

At this time, many tombs around Jerusalem opened up, and many of the dead Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) arose to go into Jerusalem to tell people that they had seen the resurrected face of YHVH (Matthew 27:52-53).
 
When Mary first arrived ahead of the other women, she found the tomb empty, and told Peter the Jew (Sh'mon aka Simon aka Simeon aka Cephas aka The Apostle Peter) that someone had taken away the Man of Truth, so that she could not see the lifeless face of YHVH (John 20:1-2).  Peter the Jew and another Apostle of Truth ran to the tomb, found that grave clothes neatly folded, but did not see the lifeless face of YHVH before they returned home (John 20:3-10).

When Mary arrived with the other women, the Angel of Truth sitting on the stone told them to look in the tomb where they would not see the lifeless face of YHVH, for the Man of Truth had risen from the dead (Matthew 28:5-6).  When they went into the tomb, another Angel of Truth sat on the right side of the burial slab and told them that they would not see the lifeless face of YHVH, for the Man of Truth had risen from the dead (Mark 16:5-6).  As they stood inside the tomb wondering what was going on, the two Angels of Truth asked them why they were looking for the resurrected face of YHVH among the dead, when he had told them that he would rise again after the third day in the grave (Luke 24:4-7)?

Then the women left to deliver the message to the Apostles of Truth that the Angels of Truth had commanded, that they were to go to Galilee where they would see the resurrected face of YHVH (Matthew 28:7-8).

When Mary went back to the tomb crying, the two Angels of Truth sat at the head and feet of where the body of the Man of Truth had laid, and asked her again why she wept, to which she replied that she did not know where to go to see the lifeless face of YHVH (John 20:11-13).  Then she told who she thought was the gardener that she was looking for the body of the Man of Truth, but when he called her name, she looked into the resurrected face of YHVH (John 20:14-16).  He then told her to tell the rest of the disciples that he was ascending to see the face of YHVH in Heaven (John 20:17).

Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the resurrected face of YHVH (Mark 16:9). 

Then the other women saw the resurrected face of YHVH while on their way to tell the disciples the message of the Angels of Truth, and the Man of Truth told the women to deliver the same message (Matthew 28:9-10). 

At the same time, the enemies of the Man of Truth bribed the soldiers to say that his disciples had stolen his body, so people would not believe that anyone had seen the resurrected face of YHVH (Matthew 28:11-15).

When they arrived to tell this message to the Apostles of Truth and the other disciples in the house, the idea that they would again see the face of YHVH seemed like an idle tale (Luke 24:8-11).  Yet, when Peter the Jew returned to the tomb, he wondered why he only saw grave clothes and not the lifeless face of YHVH (Luke 24:12).

When Mary told the mourning disciples that she had seen the resurrected face of YHVH, none of them believed her (Mark 16:10-11).  Still she delivered the message that she had heard when she beheld the resurrected face of YHVH (John 20:18).

That morning was not the last time that someone would see the resurrected face of YHVH.

Later that day, two more of the Children of Truth saw the resurrected face of YHVH (Mark 16:12).

Cleopas and the other disciple did not recognize the resurrected face of YHVH as they told the Man of Truth about all that had happened as they walked towards Emmaus (Luke 24:13-24).  They did not recognize the resurrected face of YHVH, when he explained how these had to happen according to the Original Covenant (Tanakh aka The Old Testament) (Luke 24:25-27).  It was only after they arrived in Emmaus, when he had broken the bread and gave it to them that they recognized the resurrected face of YHVH, who then vanished out of their sight (Luke 24:28-32).

When the two disciples arrived from Emmaus and told the disciples in Jerusalem that they had seen the resurrected face of YHVH, they did not believe them (Mark 16:13).

After this, Peter the Jew was the first Apostle of Truth to see the the resurrected face of YHVH (1 Corinthians 15:3-5).

Shortly after that, the Man of Truth came to where the disciples were hiding from his enemies and all of the Apostles of Truth saw the resurrected face of YHVH, except for Thomas the Jew (John 20:19-24).  When they told Thomas the Jew that they had seen the resurrected face of YHVH, he said that he would not believe them unless he touched the wounds of the Man of Truth himself (John 20:25).

When the two disciples from Emmaus found the eleven Apostles of Truth with some other disciples, they were discussing about how Peter the Jew had seen the resurrected face of YHVH (Luke 24:33-34).  As they told the Apostles of Truth about how they recognized the resurrected face of YHVH when he broke the bread, the Man of Truth appeared to them, showed them his wounds, and ate some food (Luke 24:35-43).

All twelve of the Apostles of Truth saw the resurrected face of YHVH at this time (1 Corinthians 15:5). (Matthias was one of the disciples who was with the eleven Original Apostles of Truth when they saw the the resurrected face of YHVH, and later became the twelfth Original Apostle of Truth (Acts 1:21-26).)

On the eight day, the Man of Truth appeared to the Apostles of Truth along with other disciples, then told Thomas to touch his wounds, so that he would know that he was seeing the resurrected face of YHVH (John 20:26-28).  He then told Thomas that those who believed without ever seeing the face of YHVH were blessed (John 20:29).  He then did many more signs in the presence of his disciples, so they would all be certain that they had seen the resurrected face of YHVH (John 20:30-31).

Then the Man of Truth scolded all eleven Original Apostles for not believing the reports of the witnesses he had sent, who had said that they had seen the resurrected face of YHVH (Mark 16:14).

More people asaw the resurrected face of YHVH in Galilee.

After this, all eleven Original Apostles of Truth went with many other disciples to a mountain in Galilee to meet the Man of Truth, and worshiped him when they saw the face of YHVH (Matthew 28:16-17).  More than five hundred disciples saw the resurrected face of YHVH at this time (1 Corinthians 15:6).

The Man of Truth then commissioned them to teach all nations to obey his commandments as well as be baptized, and that he would be with them until the end of the age, even when they could not see the face of YHVH (Matthew 28:18-20). 

Later, Peter the Jew went fishing with some of the other Apostles of Truth in the Sea of Galilee, but they did not recognize the resurrected face of YHVH, when the Man of Truth called to them from the shore (John 21:1-5).  When they caught many fish after following his instructions, Peter the Jew ran to the shore to see the resurrected face of YHVH (John 21:6-7).  After the others came, they all beheld the resurrected face of YHVH as they ate with him (John 21:8-14).

After they ate, Peter the Jew looked into the resurrected face of YHVH three times, when the Man of Truth asked him to take care of his flock, if Peter the Jew really loved the him (John 21:15-17).  Then he told Peter the Jew that when he was old he would be killed for telling the world that he had seen the resurrected face of YHVH (John 21:18-19).  Then the Man of Truth told Peter the Jew that it did not matter what happened to John the Jew, but Peter the Jew was to follow him, so he could once again see the face of YHVH in Heaven (John 21:20-24).

After this, the Man of Truth showed the resurrected face of YHVH to James the Apostle of Truth, the son of his mother Mary (1 Corinthians 15:7).

Many outside of Jerusalem afterwards saw the resurrected face of YHVH.

By the end of forty days, the Original Apostles of Truth had seen the resurrected face of YHVH many times as well as had seen many signs, which proved that they were not just having a vision (Acts 1:1-3).

Many disciples from Galilee followed the Man of Truth until they were not far from Jerusalem, where he told them that they were to bear witness to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, that they had seen the resurrected face of YHVH as foretold by the Prophets of Truth (Luke 24:44-48).

Many disciples saw the resurrected face of YHVH, when the Man of Truth commanded them to go into all of the world and preach the Good News of his resurrection, which would be backed up by miracles to prove their witness (Mark 16:15-18).  They saw power in the resurrected face of YHVH, when he told them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father of Truth, which would empower them to do those miracles (Luke 24:49).  They saw the resurrected face of YHVH, when he told them that the promise of the Father of Truth was baptism in the Spirit of Truth, not baptism in water (Acts 1:4-5).  He told them that he would not restore the kingdom of Israel until the Father of Truth decided it was time, but in the meantime, they were to let the whole world know that they had seen the resurrected face of YHVH, after they were given the power that comes from the baptism of the Spirit of Truth (Acts 1:6-8).

These disciples then went with the Man of Truth to the vicinity of Bethany, where they saw the resurrected face of YHVH blessing them (Luke 24:50). While he was blessing them, he began to rising towards Heaven, until they could no longer see the resurrected face of YHVH (Luke 24:51).  He rose until a cloud took the resurrected face of YHVH out of their sight (Acts 1:9).

The Man of Truth returned to Heaven, where he once again look upon the face of YHVH (Mark 16:19).

These disciples then worship the Man of Truth, for they had seen the face of YHVH (Luke 24:52).  Then two Angels of Truth asked them why they stood there looking up, when the Man of Truth would come back in the same way and people would again gaze upon the face of YHVH (Acts 1:10-11).

After the Man of Heaven returned to Heaven, people continued to see the face of YHVH.

Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka The Apostle Paul) saw the face of YHVH after the Man of Truth returned to Heaven (1 Corinthians 15:8).

Paul the Jew had his course corrected when he saw the face of YHVH on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:2-6).  Ananias saw the face of YHVH when he was told to pray for Paul the Jew (Acts 9:10-16).

Paul the Jew saw the face of YHVH when the Man of Truth gave him the Gospel before he went to Jerusalem three years later (Galatians 1:11-18).

Paul the Jew saw the face of YHVH when he was warned to flee Jerusalem and go to the Gentiles (Acts 22:17-21).

Paul the Jew later compared the Gospel that he received after he saw the face of YHVH fourteen year earlier to that of the Apostles of Truth in Jerusalem (Galatians 2:1-2).  The Gospel that he received when he saw the face of YHVH was the same as their Gospel (Galatians 2:6-9).

Paul the Jew continued to see the face of YHVH in many revelations (2 Corinthians 12:1).   He also knew a man who saw the face of YHVH in Heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

Paul the Jew saw the face of YHVH when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem and the Man of Truth told him that he was being sent to Rome (Acts 23:11).

Peter the Jew saw the face of YHVH again when he was old and his time to die was close (2 Peter 1:13-15). 

Then the last of the Original Apostles of Truth saw the face of YHVH again.

John the Jew heard the voice of the Man of Truth on the isle of Patmos when he was very old, so he turned to look for the resurrected face of YHVH (Revelation 1:9-12).  Instead, he looked into the glorified, exalted, triumphant face of YHVH (Revelation 1:13-16).  So, he fell at the feet of the Man of Truth as if he was dead when he saw the glorified, exalted, triumphant face of YHVH, before being told to write down what he saw (Revelation 1:17-19).

Afterwards, John the Jew was taken up to the throne room of Heaven, but the brightness around the throne obscured the face of YHVH (Revelation 4:1-5).  He saw the four beasts with six wings and the twenty-four elders fall in worship before the obscured face of YHVH (Revelation 4:6-11).

Then John the Jew wept because no one could be found worthy to approach the obscured face of YHVH to take the scroll from His hand (Revelation 5:1-4).  Then he saw the Lamb approach the obscured face of YHVH and take the scroll from His hand (Revelation 5:5-7).  Then he saw every created thing in the throne room begin to worship the Lamb, who was worthy to approach the obscured face of YHVH and take the scroll from His hand (Revelation 5:8-14).

Next, John the Jew saw the glorified, exalted, triumphant face of YHVH as the Lamb began to open the seals of the scroll (Revelation 6:1).  After the six seal was opened, he saw the people of Earth trying to hide from the wrathful faces of YHVH (Revelation 6:15-17).

After that, John the Jew saw a great multitude of people from every ethnic group worshiping before the faces of YHVH (Revelation 7:9-12).  These were the Children of Truth who came out of the Tribulation to stand before the faces of YHVH in the throne room (Revelation 7:13-17).

Later, John the Jew saw the hundred and forty-four thousand standing before the faces of YHVH in the throne room (Revelation 14:1-5).

One day everyone will see the faces of YHVH.

When the Man of Truth leads the army of Heaven and many will look upon the wrathful face of YHVH (Revelation 19:11-16).  When his enemies gather together to fight him, they will see the wrathful face of YHVH (Revelation 19:17-19).  When the Man of Lies (The Antichrist aka The Beast) and the Prophet of Lies (The False Prophet) are cast alive into the Lake of Fire, the last thing they will see on Earth is the wrathful face of YHVH (Revelation 19:20). When his enemies are slain with his sword, the last thing they will see on Earth is the wrathful face of YHVH (Revelation 19:21).

After that, everyone left on Earth will see the regal face of YHVH for a thousand years as the Man of Truth rules over the entire Earth (Revelation 20:4-6).

After that, everyone on Earth who does not want to be ruled by the Man of Truth will be destroyed when the wrathful face of YHVH sends fire down upon them (Revelation 20:7-9).  Then all of the Children of Lies (those who disobey the Father of Truth because they do not love Him) will stand before the throne of the Father of Truth to face the wrathful face of YHVH before they are thrown into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:11-15).

Then there will be a New Heaven and a New Earth where everyone will see the loving face of YHVH when the Father of Truth comes to live among people (Revelation 21:1-4).  All of the resurrected Children of Truth will glaze upon the loving face of YHVH when they see their Father (Revelation 21:5-7).  All of the ethnic groups of people in natural bodies will see the loving faces of YHVH when they bring their offerings to the Father of Truth and the Man of Truth in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:22-26).  The Children of Truth will look upon the loving faces of YHVH as they serve the Man of Truth and the Father of Truth in reigning over the New Earth with them forever (Revelation 22:3-5). 

Which face of YHVH will you see?

Will you see the wrathful face of YHVH or the loving face of YHVH?

The Father of Truth does not want anyone to see the wrathful face of YHVH, but for all to repent so they can see the loving face of YHVH (2 Peter 3:9).  The invitation to see the loving face of YHVH, instead of the wrathful face of YHVH, is extended to everyone (Revelation 22:16-17).

So come into the House of Truth.

Over the last two thousand years, many of the Children of Truth have seen the face of YHVH in dreams and visions.  The Man of Truth has even appeared to thousands Muslims in these last days with manifestations of the Spirit of Truth, because they sought the Father of Truth with their whole heart.

This is what the Father of Truth promised, if anyone sought Him with their whole heart (Jeremiah 29:13).  So, the Man of Truth appeared to them to give them the Gospel, because no one can come to the Father of Truth, except thru him (John 14:6).  Then they left Islam to become part of the Children of Truth.

So, come into the House of Truth.

Many will soon see the face of YHVH after they are martyred during the Tribulation as John the Jew saw in the Revelation.  The fullness of time is upon us.  The signs of the times are evident to those who with eyes to see.

However, no one has to go through the Tribulation to see the face of YHVH.

The Children of Truth who die before the Tribulation will see the face of YHVH when they are in Heaven with the Man of Truth (2 Corinthians 5:8).  They are literally dying to see the face of YHVH (Philippians 1:21-23).

So, come into the House of Truth.

However, not everyone will have to even die to see the face of YHVH.  Before the Tribulation, many of the living Children of Truth will meet the Man of Truth in resurrected bodies and see the face of YHVH with out having to die first (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18).

However, the Man of Truth warned that not all of the Children of Truth shall escape the Tribulation that will soon come upon all the Earth to see the face of YHVH in this way (Luke 21:34-36).

Only the worthy will hear the sound of the Trumpet.  So heed the warning of, "People get ready!".

Of course, the first step to being worthy to escape the coming Tribulation is to come into the House of Truth.

Those who come into the House of Truth will see the loving face of YHVH (Matthew 5:8).  So, surrender control of your life now to the Man of Truth, because you believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

Come into the House of Truth!

Resurrection Sunday

When should the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him), celebrate the resurrection of the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ)?

Most people, who call themselves "Christians", celebrate a holiday of some sort in the Spring to commemorate the resurrection of the Man of Truth.  The day that most of these groups commemorate the resurrection of the Man of Truth falls on a Sunday.  They do not agree on which Sunday, or even what to call the holiday. 

So we will call the day, that various groups commemorate the resurrection of the Man of Truth, "Resurrection Sunday".  This will give the same generic name to a common event, that is observed on different days, by different groups, with different names.

Some of them use the Roman system, to determine when to celebrate Resurrection Sunday.  Some who use the Roman system, call Resurrection Sunday, "Easter", while others using the Roman system call Resurrection Sunday, "Passover". 

The waters are furthered muddied by, who celebrate "Easter", doing so on the same day, that others using the Roman system, who celebrate "Passover".  In some places where the Roman system is used, the words "Easter" and "Passover" are used interchangeably for Resurrection Sunday.

Other people who call themselves "Christians", uses one of the Jewish systems to determine when to celebrate Resurrection Sunday. 

Various groups within Judaism, celebrate "Passover" based on different criteria.  Broadly speaking, there is the Rabbinic system, that uses the Rabbinic calendar, and the Observation system, that is based on the facts on the ground in Israel. 

Inside the Observation system, there is contention about what constitutes the conditions, that determine the day when the month "Abib", that contains "Passover" begins.  Even when people determine what day "Passover" falls on using either of these systems, there is still disagreement over whether "Passover" should be celebrated at the beginning or the end of the day. 

So there can be as much as a full month some years, between when "Passover" is celebrated by those who use the Rabbinic system and those who use the Observation system.  This Jewish "Passover" does not fall on a Sunday most years, but it is used to determine "The Feast of Firstfruits", that does fall on a Sunday, which can also be thought of as Resurrection Sunday.

Yet others use the Greek system, to determine when to celebrate Resurrection Sunday.  Those who use the Greek system, only call Resurrection Sunday, "Passover".  It is based on a completely different formula than the Roman system, so that Greek "Passover" almost always falls after Roman "Easter/Passover", sometimes by more than a month.  Because of the confusion of "Easter/Passover" in the Roman system, sometimes people mistakenly call Greek "Passover", "Greek Easter", even though the Greeks call it "Passover".

Just to add to the confusion, the "Passover" that those using the Roman system are celebrating, is usually a few days after the Passover that Jews are celebrating.  Just to tangle the whole mess a little bit more, the "Passover/Easter" of the Roman system, is actually not on the Passover of the Jewish system, but instead usually falls on "The Feast of Firstfruits" on the Jewish system.  Part of the confusion arises from many Jewish people referring to three different holidays, that run together over an eight day period, collectively as "Passover".

Needless to say, this leads to a lot of confusion. 

For example, in this year, 2016, most people who call themselves "Christians" in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Germany, and parts of France celebrated "Easter" on March 27 as Resurrection Sunday, while those in the rest of Western Europe celebrated "Passover" as Resurrection Sunday on the same day.  However, those who use one of the Jewish systems, will celebrate "Passover" on April 21, or April 22, and celebrate Resurrection Sunday as "The Feast of Firstfruits" on April 24.  Lastly, those who use the Greek system, will celebrate Resurrection Sunday as "Passover" on May 1. 

So those who call themselves "Christians", are using three different dates, in three different months, with holidays that have three different names, to celebrate the exact same event.  What a tangled mess!

The first step to untangling this mess, is a little history, of how things got to be in such a mess to start with.  We will begin by examining the calendar systems, used by these various groups to determine when Resurrection Sunday occurs.

Before there were calendars, people just went by lunar cycles, called months (from the word, "moon").  Each month started, the day after the moon went dark, and lasted until the moon went dark again.  In like manner, a year was measured from one summer to the next.  Since twelve months spanned an average of 354 days, some years contained 12 months and other years contained 13 months.

The original calendar was the Babylonian calendar.  This was a lunar calendar.  This calendar had 12 months per year, with alternating lengths of 30 and 29 days per month.  There were 354 days in a year, regardless of the seasons.  The Assyrians and Persians used this calendar was well.  Even today, the Muslim calendar uses this purely lunar calendar, without any seasonal adjustment.  That is why a Muslim holiday like Ramadan, can be in Winter one year, and be in Summer a decade later.

The Greeks used the Macedonian calendar, that improved upon the Babylonian calendar. This lunar calendar was based on the 19 year Metonic cycle, invented by the Greek astronomer and mathematician, Meton.  This calendar used months, that started on the day after the calculated astronomical "New Moon" (Dark Moon), resulting in 12 lunar months per year, resulting in 354 day years like the Babylonian calendar.  However, to ensure that the first month of each year always contained the Spring Equinox, Meton added a leap month, after the sixth month, in years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, and 17 of the nineteen year cycle.  Lastly, he added a leap month at the end of the 19th year of the cycle.

Julius Caesar found the Macedonian calendar hard to work with.  In particular, he wanted a calendar system that could be used to make food rationing in the winter easier, by making it easier to calculate the number of days until barley, the first crop to ripen after winter, would be ready for harvest.  So he had a solar calendar created, where the position of the Earth relative to the Sun, would be approximately the same each year, on the same date on the calendar.  This solar calendar had months of alternating lengths of 31 days and 30 days, with the last month, February having 29 days.  He knew that a solar year was approximately 365 and one quarter days, so every fourth year, leap year, there would be a leap day added to February, making it to be 30 days long.  The first month of this calendar, March, also contained the Spring Equinox, but it set the Spring Equinox to March 21, because the Spring climate change began about three weeks earlier.  So there were three months for each of the four seasons.  This calendar was known as the Julian Calendar.

When Augustus became the Roman Emperor, the Roman Senate renamed the sixth month to August in his honor, just as they had previously renamed the fifth month to July, in honor of Julius Caesar.  Augustus did not like that his month had one less day than the month of Julius Caesar, so he made August to have 31 days, changed the months after August to alternate between 30 days and 31 days, and changed February to have only 28 days in a normal year.  He kept the leap day, so every fourth year, leap year, February had 29 days.  Even though this modified Julian calendar would be more properly called the Augustan calendar, the name never stuck, and it is still referred to as the Julian calendar to this day.

After a number of centuries, it became apparent that the Julian calendar had a subtle problem.  The Spring Equinox would slowly, but surely, occur later on the calendar over time.  This phenomenon is called Julian shift.  By the time of Pope Gregory, around 1580 AD, the Spring Equinox was occurring around March 31, ten days late, due to Julian shift.  So Pope Gregory, had the Gregorian calendar invented, by making the Gregorian correction, of not having a leap year in century years that were not evenly divisible by 400.  For example, 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but 2000 was a leap year.  He also had 10 days skipped in 1582, to return the Spring Equinox to occurring on March 21.  The Gregorian calendar is the common calendar, used by the world today to conduct business, even though many places, will also use another calendar, for determining when religious holidays occur.

Before 70 AD, the Sanhedrin determined whether or not there would be a leap month, based on facts on the ground in Israel.  This set the date for Passover.  Due to the long distance that people traveled to attend Passover, from places like Rome and Babylon, they would typically forecast, which years would have leap months, a few years in advance.  The exact details of how they determined this, are not known, but they kept historical data, about which years had leap months in the past, and probably used that data, as a basis for their determinations.

By 200 AD, most people who called themselves "Christians", consulted with their Jewish neighbors, to determine when the Jews were celebrating Passover, and used that date, to fix when to celebrate Resurrection Sunday, on the following Sunday, that they also called "Passover".

However, this all changed with the council of Nicaea in 325 AD.  In this council, the False Church of Rome, decided that "Passover" should have a universal date among everyone, who called themselves "Christians", and the only rule that they agreed upon for deciding that date, was that it could not be based, on when the Jews celebrated Passover.

Not everyone who called themselves "Christians", went along with this decision, particularly those who did not belong to the False Church of Rome.  For example, the congregations started by Saint Patrick, were reported, as still basing Resurrection Sunday on Passover, in 592 AD.

Eventually, the False Church of Rome settled on a formula, that defined "Passover" as the Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.  The Spring Equinox was always defined as March 21, even in years when it occurred on a different date.  The Julian calendar was still in use at this time.

Not long after that, Hillel II introduced the Rabbinic calendar, that is still in use today.  Jerusalem had been destroyed in 70 AD, and the Jews had been dispersed by the Romans throughout their empire in 135 AD.  The Sanhedrin could no longer rely on the facts on the ground in Israel, to make adjustments to their forecasts.  So he lead the Sanhedrin in creating a calculated calendar, that Jews could use, where ever they were scattered.

This Rabbinic calendar was based on the Macedonian calendar, with a few more adjustments of its own.  The months were given Babylonian names, like "Nisan" for the first month, and the leap month was moved, to always occur at the end of each leap year.  The leap years still followed the 19 year cycle of Meton, with years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19 being leap years.  Also, the beginning of the first month would be adjusted sometimes by a day or two, to make sure that special Sabbaths in the Feasts of Truth (Moedim aka Feasts of the Father of Truth) did not fall on the regular weekly Sabbath.  This Rabbinic calendar is used by the Rabbinic system for determining the date of Passover to this day.  So those who use this system, have "Passover" being celebrated on April 22 this year, and Resurrection Sunday is on the Feast of Firstfruits, April 24, this year.

The False Church of Rome continued to have the same date for "Passover", which was called "Easter" in the westernmost countries of Europe, even after the False Church of Rome split into Roman and Greek halves in the Great Schism of 1054 AD.  However, because the Greek half did not recognize the authority of the head of the Roman half, Pope Gregory, when he made his correction in 1582, they continued to use the Julian calendar, instead of the Gregorian calendar, for determining the date of "Passover", until this day.  For this reason, the Greek half of the False Church of Rome is using 3 APR as the date of the Spring Equinox, 13 days after the astronomical Spring Equinox, as the basis for calculating "Passover" this year.  So those who are using the Roman system, Resurrection Sunday is on "Passover/Easter", March 27, this year, while those who are using the Greek system, Resurrection Sunday is on "Passover", May 1, this year.

Finally, since Israel became a nation in 1948, and the invention of electronic communications, it has been possible again, to determine the date of Passover, based on the facts on the ground in Israel.  This calendar, based on observation of the conditions in Jerusalem, is the Observation calendar.

One of the problems with the Observation calendar is, that it is subject to weather conditions and other such phenomenon.  For example, the first visible sliver of the New Moon for determining the first month of this year, was spotted in Perth, Australia and other points east of Jerusalem on April 8, but it could not be seen there due to hazy skies.  It still could not be seen on April 9, but most who used the Observation calendar defaulted to April 9 as the first day of the first month, because they knew, that the time between new moons could not be more than 30 days.  So strictly speaking, they still made a determination based on calculation, instead of observation.  So, not all of those using the Observation system, did agree on exactly when Passover was, with some using Apr 22, while other used Apr 23.  However, they still agree, that Resurrection Sunday is on the Feast of Firstfruits, April 24, this year.

So this explains why things are such a convoluted mess, but it does not really tell, when Resurrection Sunday should be celebrated.  The best way to determine that, is to examine the holidays, that the Children of Truth celebrated in the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament).

It has been noted, that the word "Easter", appears in English Bibles, so it is reasoned that the Children of Truth were familiar with Easter (Acts 12:4).  However, the Greek word translated as "Easter" in this verse is actually "Pascha".  "Pascha" is the Greek word for the Hebrew word "Pesach", which is called "Passover" in English.  It was translated as "Easter", because that is what the English called Resurrection Sunday, which other people using the Roman system, called "Passover", as previously noted.  So it was "Passover", that the Children of Truth were familiar with, not "Easter".

This is further confirmed by the preceding verse, which explicitly states, that this occurred during "The Feast of Unleavened Bread" (Acts 12:3).  Years later, Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka The Apostle Paul) celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread with the almost completely Gentile congregation at Philippi (Acts 20:6).  In like manner, half-Jewish, half-Gentile, congregation at Corinth was also in the habit of celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread (1 Corinthians 5:8).

It might seem odd, that the Gentile Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant were celebrating the same holidays as unbelieving Jews.  The reason for this begins by understanding the name, that they identified themselves by.  The Children of Truth called themselves, "Christians", as confirmed by Peter the Jew (Cephas aka Simon aka Simeon aka The Apostle Peter), in his epistle (1 Peter 4:14-17).  This word "Christian" that he wrote, literally means "Christ follower (Messiah follower)".

Simply put, these Gentile Children of Truth identified the Man of Truth, as their one and only Rabbi, and they were determined to follow him, by doing what he did (Matthew 23:8-10).  Since their Rabbi celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread, then they also celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Matthew 26:17).

In order to understand, exactly what the Feast of Unleavened Bread has to do with Resurrection Sunday, it necessary to examine the Feast of Unleavened Bread a little more closely.  In order to understand the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it helps to understand the calendar of the Book of Truth (The Bible), which we will call the Biblical calendar. Like many things, the best place to begin, is at the beginning.

The very beginning of understanding any calendar, is understanding the structure of a day.  On the Biblical calendar, evening and morning are joined together as one calendar day (Genesis 1:5). The period without sunlight is called nighttime and the period with full sunlight is daytime.  There are two transition periods when it is neither nighttime nor daytime.  These are guard bands that provide complete separation between the time of no sunlight and the time of total sunlight.  The transition from daytime to nighttime, that begins at sunset, and lasts about an hour to nightfall, when all sunlight is gone, is evening.  The transition from nighttime to daytime, that begins about an hour before sunrise, daybreak, and lasts until sunrise, when total sunlight begins, is morning.  Since the evening begins each calendar day, and evening begins at sunset and ends at nightfall, then the transition from one day to another begins at sunset and ends at nighttime.  So sunset is typically used to mark when one day ends and another begins.

However, that is not totally correct, because the evening that comes at the end of a day, can also be regarded, as being the last part of that day (John 20:1-19).  The evening is technically the midpoint of the transition is between daytime to nighttime, when the light of the day, and the darkness of night, have became even.  So the last half of the evening, that ends with nightfall, is the start of a day, and the first half of the evening, that follows sunset, is the end of a day.  For this reason, some Rabbis use a 25 hour day for the Sabbath, where the Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday, and ends at nightfall on Saturday, just to be safe.  In reality, evening is a guard band between days, that is more of a grace period to account for human frailty.  So people should strive to get everything done by sunset on Friday, but have a little grace if something unexpected causes them to be a few minutes late.

The next thing to understand on the Biblical calendar, is the structure of a month, which is either 29 or 30 days.  The Hebrew word for "month", "Chodesh", also means "new moon" or more literally "renewed moon".  Each month starts when the moon is made new.  The period from one new moon to the next varies from 29.26 to 29.80 days, so a month on the Biblical calendar will either be 29 or 30 days.  In the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law), the first day of the new month was to be marked with the blowing of trumpets over the sacrifices (Numbers 10:10).

The moon is made new, strictly speaking from an astronomical point of view, about one second after it becomes completely dark.  The moon is completely dark only at the moment of conjunction, when the Moon is directly between the Earth and the Sun, in its orbit.  The moon at the moment of conjunction is called the dark moon.  The crescent of the new moon becomes visible as early as twelve and half hours after the dark moon, under near perfect conditions, such as appearing as large as possible, because it is at the point nearest the Earth in its orbit, known as perigee, is well above the horizon, the skies are clear, and the viewer has excellent eyesight.

However, there is nothing in the Book of Truth, that says the moon is made new, when the crescent is first observed in Jerusalem, or anywhere else.  The fact is, that the moon is made new, whether anyone observes it or not, like in the case of the new moon, that was not observed on either the twenty-ninth day, or thirtieth day in Jerusalem this year, due to hazy skies, that was referenced earlier.   So if the moon goes dark one night, it is certain, that the moon is new the next night, whether the crescent is observed or not, and a new month on the Biblical calendar has began.  It would be even more accurate to say, that the a new month begins on the Biblical calendar, on the evening after the moon goes dark.

The next thing to understand on the Biblical calendar, is the structure of a year, which is either 12 or 13 months.  The year begins with the month, that the Father of Truth passed over the homes with the blood of a lamb on their door, when He killed the firstborn throughout the land of Egypt (Exodus 12:1-13).  This is the month of Abib, which literally means "the green ear of grain", meaning the month that the barley becomes ripe (Exodus 13:3-5).  The first month of the year is the month, when the barley will be ripe enough to be roasted and eaten, on the Feast of Firstfruits (Leviticus 2:14).

Since twelve months are usually 354 days, occasionally a thirteenth month, a leap month, has to be added, to ensure that the barley will be ripe enough to be offered on the Feast of Firstfruits.  This can be checked by squeezing a grain of barley between the thumb and forefinger, in the land of Israel.  If no liquid comes out, then it will be ripe enough.  It can also be reliably calculated by determining, if the Feast of Firstfruits would occur at least eleven days after the Spring Equinox, in Jerusalem.  If it would, then it is the first month of the new year, otherwise it is a leap month, and the new year will begin on the first day of the next month.

So in summary, a day begins at evening, a month begins on the day when the moon is renewed, and the year begins with the month, when the barley will be ripe enough to be offered at the Feast of Firstfruits.  So an explanation of the Feast of Firstfruits is needed.

The first step to understanding the Feast of Firstfruits, is the repeating cycle of seven days, that define the regular Sabbath.  The Father of Truth rested from His work of creation on the seventh day, so He set it apart as different than the other days, because He ceased from that work (Genesis 2:1-3).  In the same way, He gave the seventh day of each week as a Sabbath, a day for people to rest from their normal work, by ceasing from that work (Exodus 20:8-11).  The Father of Truth did not set aside a day of ceasing, the Sabbath, because He was tired, but because people need a day to rest each week, by ceasing from their work (Mark 2:27).  People enter into the rest that the Sabbath was made for, when they cease from their own work, like the Father of Truth ceased from His work (Hebrews 4:10).

The next step to understanding the Feast of Firstfruits, is the special Sabbaths.  The word "Sabbath" does not mean "seventh".  You do not count to seven in Hebrew like this: one, two, three, four, five, six, Sabbath.  Sabbath means "ceasing", because on a Sabbath, people are to cease from their normal work.  Certain holidays on the Biblical calendar are also a Sabbath, regardless of which day of the week they fall on.  For example, the day of Atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month, can fall on any day of the week, but it is also a Sabbath (Leviticus 16:29-31).  So every week ends with a regular Sabbath, but there are also special Sabbaths, that fall on certain days of certain months, that can fall on any day of the week, that are called "High Days" (John 19:31).

The next step to understanding the Feast of Firstfruits, is the relationship of the Feast of Firstfruits to Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Passover always occurs on the fourteenth day of the first month (Leviticus 23:5).  The Feast of Unleavened Bread always begins on the Fifteenth day of the first month, and lasts for seven days, with the first and last days being special Sabbaths (Leviticus 23:6-8).  The Feast of Firstfruits occurs on the day after the regular Sabbath (Saturday), which is a Sunday, that follows the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:9-11).

It is certain that the regular Sabbath is being referred to, instead of one of the special Sabbaths of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the day of the month would have just been given, to make it completely clear, like when the day of the month was given for the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, even though it always occurs the day after Passover (Leviticus 23:5-6).  So it is the Sunday, that follows the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that begins the day after Passover, when the barley grain must be ripe enough, to offer as the firstfruits of the land of Israel.

So Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits are all clumped together in a normally eight day period, in the first month of the Biblical calendar, that always occurs in the Spring.  Firstfruits always occurs on a Sunday, that usually occurs during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Now, we are ready to show why the Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant, celebrated Resurrection Sunday during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

The Passover lamb was to be eaten with unleavened bread on Passover (Exodus 12:8).  For this reason, Passover is referred to as the first day of unleavened bread, even though it occurs the day before the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Mark 14:12).

So "the Feast of Unleavened Bread" came to sometimes be used to refer to the entire eight days, including Passover (Matthew 26:17).  For the same reason, the entire eight day period, that includes the Feast of Unleavened Bread, is sometimes referred to as "Passover" (Luke 22:1).  Sometimes the fourteenth day of the month is called "the day of preparation", so that "Passover" really refers to the Feast of Unleavened Bread (John 19:31-42).  On the Rabbinic calendar in use today, Passover is seven days long, which is really the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

So "the Feast of Unleavened Bread", that the Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant used to observe Resurrection Sunday, could have included Passover, and could have alternatively been called, "Passover".  This would seem fitting, because just as the Passover lamb is eaten without leaven, so also the Man of Truth was sacrificed without sin (Hebrews 4:14-15).

It was during the celebration of Passover, when the Man of Truth told the Children of Truth, that the unleavened bread represented his body, that would be broken for them, and the wine represented his blood, that would be shed, to bring about the Renewed Covenant (Luke 22:15-20).  So it was the death of the Man of Truth, that they were to make known, by eating unleavened bread and drinking wine in his memory, every time they celebrated Passover (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

The Passover lamb was to be roasted whole for Passover (Exodus 12:5-9).  To this day, the Greeks roast a lamb whole for "Passover", their name for Resurrection Sunday, because that is what they say, the Apostles of Truth told them to do, to remember the death of the Lamb.

The Man of Truth is the lamb that takes away the sins of the Children of Truth (John 1:29).  The Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant observed Passover, because the Man of Truth, is their Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7).  The Gentile Children of Truth have participated in the better Passover.  They recognized, that they will be passed over, when the Father of Truth brings death to the Children of Lies for their sins.

So the Man of Truth has made it possible, for sin to be completely taken away from the lives of the Children of Truth, when he died for them (Romans 6:4-11).  Therefore the Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for a complete week, because they were committed to living a life, that was completely free from sin (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).  They recognized that removing the leaven for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that immediately follows the Passover, was really about removing the sin, that immediately follows taking the deal, that was made possible by the death of the Man of Truth.

The Man of Truth rose from the dead, on the day after the regular Sabbath, a Sunday, that followed the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is the Feast of Firstfruits (Matthew 28:1-7).  So, the Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant celebrated the Feast of Firstfruits, which normally occurs during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the Man of Truth was the firstfruits of those, who will be raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20).  The Feast of Firstfruits, that always falls on a Sunday, where the raising of the firstfruits, foreshadowed that the Man of Truth would be more than a dead Jesus, is the real Resurrection Sunday!

So, the Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant used Passover to commemorate the death of the Man of Truth, the Feast of Unleavened Bread to mark that his death took away their sin, and the Feast of Firstfruits to celebrate his resurrection from the dead.  They greeted each other with "Happy Firstfruits!" on Resurrection Sunday!

Easter, and other such so-called Christian holidays, that include traditions that come from idol worship, were never celebrated by the Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant.  They celebrated the Feasts of Truth found in the Law of Truth, that form the greatest play ever.  Since, they were known as "Christians", then the Feasts of Truth are the real Christian holidays.  These real Christian holidays were not only celebrated by the Children of Truth in the Renewed Covenant, but were also part of Celtic Christianity, in its original form.  These are the holidays, that Christians are suppose to use to celebrate everything about the Man of Truth, including Resurrection Sunday!

However, the resurrection of the Man of Truth is nothing to celebrate, until you come into the House of Truth.  The resurrection of the Man of Truth only guarantees judgment for everyone, who does not come into the House of Truth (Acts 17:30-31).  You come into the House of Truth, when you follow the Man of Truth, by doing what he commands, because you believe, that the Father of Truth resurrected him from the dead (Romans 10:9).  All who come into the House of Truth, will be resurrected to eternal life, just like the Man of Truth was resurrected, on Resurrection Sunday (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)!

Come into the House of Truth!