The Jewish calendar is structured around specific months and festivals that hold deep prophetic and historical significance. The first month of the year, known as Abib or Nisan, typically corresponds to the transition between March and April (PP 537.3). This season is characterized by the end of the winter rains and the emergence of springtime beauty, providing the setting for the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread (SJ 31.5). In the context of biblical chronology and the return of the exiles to Jerusalem, the timing of months was critical for establishing prophetic dates. For instance, the journey of Ezra and his company began on the twelfth day of the first month and concluded on the first day of the fifth month, known as Ab (SS 319.1).
This five-month journey occurred during the seventh year of Artaxerxes, a pivotal year for calculating the 2300-day prophecy (PK 617.2). The precision of these dates is essential for understanding the fulfillment of the sanctuary's cleansing. Historical and Jewish reckoning places the fifth month of that significant seventh year between late July and August of 457 B.C. (GC 690.4). Such chronological details underscore the accuracy of the prophetic timeline that pointed to the work of the High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary (CIHS 8.1).
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“The first of these festivals, the Passover, the feast of unleavened bread, occurred in Abib, the first month of the Jewish year, corresponding to the last of March and the beginning of April. The cold of winter was past, the latter rain had ended, and all nature rejoiced in the freshness and beauty of the springtime. The grass was green on the hills and valleys, and wild flowers everywhere brightened the fields. The moon, now approaching the full, made the evenings delightful. It was the season so beautifully pictured by the sacred singer: PP 537.3”
“The feast was held near the close of March or the beginning of April. This was springtime in Palestine, and the whole land was bright with flowers, and glad with the song of birds. SJ 31.5”
““We departed,” Ezra writes, “on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.” Verse 31 . About four months were occupied on the journey. Their enemies were restrained from harming them, and on the first day of the fifth month, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, they reached Jerusalem. SS 319.1”
“During the few days that the Israelites tarried at the river, every provision was completed for the long journey. “We departed,” Ezra writes, “on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.” Verse 31 . About four months were occupied on the journey, the multitude that accompanied Ezra, several thousand in all, including women and children, necessitating slow progress. But all were preserved in safety. Their enemies were restrained from harming them. Their journey was a prosperous one, and on the first day of the fifth month, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, they reached Jerusalem. PK 617.2”
“Pages 327, 329. Prophetic Dates.—According to Jewish reckoning the fifth month (Ab) of the seventh year of Artaxerxes’ reign was from July 23 to August 21, 457 B.C. after Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem in the autumn of the year, the decree of the king went into effect. For the certainty of the date 457 B.C. being the seventh year of Artaxerxes, see S. H. Horn and L. H. Wood, The Chronology of Ezra 7 (Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Assn., 1953); E. G. Kraeling, The Brooklyn Museum Aramaic Papyri (New Haven or London, 1953), pp. 191-193; The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 3:97-110 (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Assn., 1954, 1977). GC 690.4”
““After breakfast I said to one of my brethren, ‘Let us go and see and encourage some of our brethren.’ We started, and while passing through a large field, I was stopped about midway of the field. Heaven seemed open to my view, and I saw distinctly and clearly that instead of our High Priest coming out of the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to this earth on the tenth day of the seventh month, at the end of the 2300 days, He, for the first time, entered on that day into the second apartment of that sanctuary, and that He had a work to perform in the most holy place before coming to the earth; that He came to the marriage, or in other words, to the Ancient of Days, to receive a kingdom, dominion, and glory; and that we must wait for His return from the wedding. And my mind was directed to the tenth chapter of Revelation, where I could see the vision had spoken and did not lie.”—Unpublished manuscript published in part in The Review and Herald, June 23, 1921. CIHS 7.3 There followed a careful investigation of the scriptures that touched on this subject—particularly those in Hebrews—by Hiram Edson and two close associates, Dr. F. B. Hahn, a physician, and O. R. L. Crosier, a teacher. The result of this joint study was written up by Crosier and was published, first in The Day Dawn, a paper of limited circulation, and then in rewritten and enlarged form in a special issue of the Day-Star, on February 7, 1846. This was a more widely read Adventist journal, published at Cincinnati, Ohio. Through this medium it reached a number of the disappointed Advent believers. The rather lengthy presentation, well supported by Scripture, brought hope and courage to their hearts as it clearly showed that the sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 days is in heaven, and not on earth, as they had believed earlier. CIHS 8.1”
Adar Bet, also known as the second month of Adar, is an intercalary month added to the Jewish calendar to ensure that the religious festivals remain in their proper seasons. While the standard Jewish year concludes with the month of Adar, which is identified as the twelfth month (PK 596.1), a leap year requires the addition of a thirteenth month. This adjustment is necessary because the lunar year is shorter than the solar year; without the addition of Adar Bet, the first month of the year, Abib, would eventually shift into the winter season rather than the "freshness and beauty of the springtime" (PP 537.3). The timing of the months was essential for the fulfillment of biblical prophecy and the completion of sacred tasks. For example, the reconstruction of the temple in Jerusalem reached its conclusion on the third day of the month Adar during the sixth year of King Darius (SS 307.4). This completion marked a significant milestone for the returning exiles, as the month of Adar served as the final month of the ecclesiastical year before the cycle of festivals began again in the spring with the Passover (PP 537.3).
In the study of prophetic chronology, such as the 2300-day prophecy, the precise reckoning of the Jewish calendar is vital for determining the start and end dates of significant periods. The transition from the twelfth or thirteenth month into the first month, Abib, established the baseline for calculating the arrival of the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of the seventh month (GC 399.4). Because the 2300-day period ended in the autumn, understanding the Jewish method of intercalating months like Adar Bet helps clarify why the cleansing of the sanctuary in 1844 fell on the twenty-second of October (HF 247.1).
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“The promise, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it,” was literally fulfilled. Verse 9 . “The elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar [the twelfth month], which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.” Ezra 6:14, 15 . PK 596.1”
“The first of these festivals, the Passover, the feast of unleavened bread, occurred in Abib, the first month of the Jewish year, corresponding to the last of March and the beginning of April. The cold of winter was past, the latter rain had ended, and all nature rejoiced in the freshness and beauty of the springtime. The grass was green on the hills and valleys, and wild flowers everywhere brightened the fields. The moon, now approaching the full, made the evenings delightful. It was the season so beautifully pictured by the sacred singer: PP 537.3”
“The promise to Zerubbabel was literally fulfilled. See Verse 9 . “The elders of the Jews builded, ... and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar.” Ezra 6:14, 15 . SS 307.4”
“In like manner the types which relate to the second advent must be fulfilled at the time pointed out in the symbolic service. Under the Mosaic system the cleansing of the sanctuary, or the great Day of Atonement, occurred on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month ( Leviticus 16:29-34 ), when the high priest, having made an atonement for all Israel, and thus removed their sins from the sanctuary, came forth and blessed the people. So it was believed that Christ, our great High Priest, would appear to purify the earth by the destruction of sin and sinners, and to bless His waiting people with immortality. The tenth day of the seventh month, the great Day of Atonement, the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, which in the year 1844 fell upon the twenty- second of October, was regarded as the time of the Lord's coming. This was in harmony with the proofs already presented that the 2300 days would terminate in the autumn, and the conclusion seemed irresistible. GC 399.4”
“In like manner the types which relate to the second advent must be fulfilled at the time pointed out in the symbolic service. The cleansing of the sanctuary, or the Day of Atonement, occurred on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month when the high priest, having made an atonement for all Israel, and thus removed their sins from the sanctuary, came forth and blessed the people. So it was believed that Christ would appear to purify the earth by the destruction of sin and sinners, and to bless His waiting people with immortality. The tenth day of the seventh month, the great Day of Atonement, the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, which in 1844 fell upon the twenty-second of October, was regarded as the time of the Lord's coming. The 2300 days would terminate in the autumn, and the conclusion seemed irresistible. HF 247.1”
Ellen Chat