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The Hebrew Calendar Testifies of Latter-day Events
by John P. Pratt

Why did Moroni Always Come on September 22nd?

When young Joseph Smith pried open Moroni's hiding place and first beheld the ancient Nephite records, he was carefully instructed by the angel Moroni to meet at that spot again. "[H]e told me I should come to that place precisely in one year from that time," Joseph later wrote, "and that he would there meet with me, and that I should continue to do so until the time should come for obtaining the plates" (Joseph Smith History 1:53).

Why did the angel Moroni meet the Prophet Joseph Smith at "precisely" one-year intervals -- every September 22^nd -- until the plates from which the Book of Mormon would be translated were delivered? Did the date itself have any significance?

Several revelations imply that the timing of key events in religious history is part of an intricate plan. One impressive example is the crucifixion of the Savior. Centuries before Jesus was born, the Lord revealed to Moses specific rituals or ordinances to be performed on holy days (or holidays) on a lunisolar calendar similar to today's Hebrew calendar.⁽¹⁾ Every year at the full moon of spring, the Passover lamb was sacrificed. Later, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed at the very hour as many of the Passover lambs. Thus, certain holy days on the Hebrew calendar went beyond symbolic representation; they also marked the actual date of the events symbolized.

Since the Law of Moses was fulfilled by the coming of Jesus Christ, rites and events on the Hebrew calendar may no longer seem important for Christians. However, the Savior's mission is not yet finished. Evidence suggests that the Hebrew calendar is still tracking dates significant to the gospel plan.

It appears that God may well have structured the Hebrew year to represent in miniature the history of the world. In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord indicates that the sum total of time on this earth is, from His perspective, a single year. Referring to all the combined weeks, months, and years of the planets, he states, "All these are one year with God, but not with man" (D&C 88:44). If so, the opening events of the year would relate to Adam and Eve, mid-year events would symbolize the Savior's first coming, and closing events would represent the latter days and the second coming of Jesus Christ.

The Hebrew civil year begins and ends in the fall and contains two great festival seasons. The spring festivities, which center around Passover, occur at the midpoint or meridian of the year, apparently symbolizing the first coming of the Savior at the meridian of time.⁽²⁾

However, the larger celebration takes place in the fall and includes the Hebrew holy days of the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Interestingly, these fall feasts can be thought of both as at the beginning and the end of the year. While they start with New Year's Day, the Lord explicitly refers to them as "at the year's end" (Ex. 34:22), perhaps because with the Lord "the first shall be last, and . . . the last shall be first" (DC 29:30).

The ancient Israelites opened the autumn festival season on the Fall New Year's Day on 1 Tishri (Rosh Hashanah).⁽³⁾ Trumpets were sounded to herald the Judgment Day of God, calling all to repentance. It is also believed to have been the day on which Adam and Eve were judged before being cast out of the Garden of Eden.⁽⁴⁾ This Feast of Trumpets began a ten-day period of introspection and repentance that culminated in the holiest day of the Hebrew year, the Day of Atonement on 10 Tishri (Yom Kippur), a day of fasting and reconciliation with God. The season ended with the eight-day Feast of Tabernacles, from 15 to 22 Tishri. Both the first and last day of that feast were designated as holy days on the Hebrew calendar. The first day is often called simply "Tabernacles" and the last day has been called the "Great Day of the Feast" (John 7:37).

Several Christian commentators point out that these holy days could symbolize three major events of the last days.⁽⁵⁾ The Feast of Trumpets corresponds to the voice of warning calling the earth's inhabitants to repentance in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. LDS interpreters further recognize ties to the Restoration and the truth of the gospel that will be preached as with the sound of a trump to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people (Rev. 14:6-7). Some evidence suggests that anciently at the Feast of Trumpets seven priests each blew a trumpet in succession, reminiscent of the seven angels who will sound the trumpet prior to the second coming of the Savior (Rev. 8:6, D&C 88:92-110). Christian scholars identify the Day of Atonement with the Second Coming of the Savior and the Feast of Tabernacles with his Millennial reign.

It's possible that each feast has multiple meanings and fulfillments. Consider, for example, the Feast of Trumpets. There are several scriptural depictions of seven angels sounding trumpets. Seven plagues are initiated by angels blowing trumpets (Rev. 8:7-11:15); seven trumps begin the resurrection that precedes the Second Coming (&C 88:94-106); and seven trumps announce that the secret acts during each 1000-year seal will be revealed (D&C 88:108-110). Before these events, the angels also sound their trumps saying, "Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the judgment of our God is come" (D&C 88:92).

Similarly, the Feast of Tabernacles, could have more than one symbolic meaning. While it probably represents the Marriage of the Lamb and other occurrences after the Second Coming, it may also tie to preparatory events, such as the gathering of Israel. The Lord has told us repeatedly that "the field is white, already to harvest" (D&C 4:4, 33:3). Another name for the Feast of Tabernacles is the Feast of Ingatherings, when the final harvest is gathered in at the end of the year (Ex. 23:16).

Studying the symbolism of the Hebrew feasts can also help us recognize key words the Lord uses that we might otherwise overlook. For instance, most of the angels who sound the trump do so with a short blast. But one blast is designated to be "loud and long." This is the blast at the resurrection of the just before the Second Coming (D&C 29:13, 43:18, 88:94). The words "loud and long" are also used to describe preaching the gospel: "lift up your voice as with the sound of a trump, both long and loud, and cry repentance unto a crooked and perverse generation, preparing the way of the Lord for his second coming" (D&C 34:6, see also D&C 124:75).

The Lord has declared that the angel with the everlasting gospel has already returned (D&C 133:36; 88:103; compare Rev. 14:6). The angel Moroni, who figuratively sounds the trump atop our temples the world over, delivered the sacred plates to the Prophet Joseph Smith on Saturday, September 22, 1827 -- the very day of the Hebrew Feast of Trumpets that year. Meanwhile, the date the angel Moroni met young Joseph every year, September 22, was the mean autumn equinox,⁽⁶⁾ when days and nights are of equal length. In the year that Joseph received the plates, the Feast of Trumpets and the autumn equinox fell on the same date.

This year, the Feast of Trumpets began on Saturday, September 11, 1999. The Day of Atonement is Monday September 20^th (with the fast beginning the evening before), and the Feast of Tabernacles extends from Saturday, September 25 through Saturday, October 2, 1999. The ancient Israelites were commanded to have "holy convocations" in Jerusalem at Passover in the spring and at the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall. Today, these meetings correspond seasonally to our spring and fall General Conferences at the "tabernacle" on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. This year, the Saturday session of LDS conference will occur on the Great Day of the Feast during the Feast of Tabernacles. Understanding the symbolism of these Hebrew festivals may help us to appreciate the Lord's calendar and the importance of the timing of many of history's religious events.

About the Author
Dr. John P. Pratt specializes in applying astronomy to religious chronology, and has published several papers on the subject, not only in the Ensign, but in scientific journals. Most of his papers can be found on his web site at http://www.johnpratt.com.
Notes
1. Lunisolar (luni = moon, solar = sun) means that each month begins with the new moon while years are aligned with the seasons of the sun.

2. Pratt, John P. "Passover: Was it Symbolic of His Coming?" Ensign 24, 1 (Jan 1994), 38-45, reprinted on the internet at http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/passover/passover.html.

3. The Fall New Year's Day fell on 1 Tishri, being the 1^st day of the 7^th month (Lev. 23:24). Note that there are two New Year's Days on the Hebrew Calendar, the other one being the first day of the first month (Nisan) in the spring.

4. Vayikra Rabba 29:1, quoted as footnote 3 in Samuele Bacchiocchi, God's Festivals in Scripture and History, Volume II: The Fall Festivals, currently found on the internet at http://www2.andrews.edu/~samuele/books/festivals_2/2.html. This is an excellent detailed summary of the Feast of Trumpets in the Old Testament.

5. An excellent LDS summary is by Lenet Read, "Joseph Smith's Receipt of the Plates and the Israelite Feast of Trumpets," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 2/2 (Fall 1993), 110-120.

6. The precise moment of the equinox usually falls on either September 22 or 23, but September 22 can be considered as an average value.

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