Enoch Calendar Testifies of Christ, Part III
by John P. Pratt

Now let us see if this definition of the Enoch Calendar has any usefulness for events that an angel would consider important. The first obvious target in searching for such a date is to consider the key dates in the life of Jesus Christ. Over the last two decades, this author has published his proposed dates for four major events in the life of Jesus Christ: his birth, baptism, beginning of public ministry, and resurrection.[20] In preparation for appreciating the coincidences with the Enoch Calendar, let us review the symbolism of those dates.

The proposed dates in the life of the Savior were calculated from the Judean calendar, which was the version of the Hebrew calendar used at that time in Jerusalem. It is now clear after the fact to Christians that many of the rites of the law of Moses were symbolic of the events in the life of Christ. For example, the Passover lamb symbolized Christ who would be sacrificed (John 1:29, 1 Cor. 5:7). It is important to note that the very time at which the Savior was being crucified on Fri 1 Apr A.D. 33, the Passover lambs were also being slaughtered according to the Judean calendar. On the next day, Passover, which celebrates the liberation of the captive Israelites from Egypt at the Exodus, Jesus Christ was in the spirit world preaching liberation to the captives there (1 Peter 3:18-20, Isa. 61:1). Similarly, there is the Sheaf Offering of the firstfruits from the ground that was made on Sun 3 Apr A.D. 33, shortly after the Redeemer was resurrected and became the firstfruits of them that slept (1 Cor 15:20). One correlation which has not been so obvious is that the feast of the Passover, that is, the joyous celebration, was really the Savior's birthday party, who would be liberated from the captivity of the womb and be born on the same day that the nation of Israel was born. Thus the timing of the various rites of the law of Moses all pointed to Christ as being the Messiah (Gal. 3:24).

Those dates, along with the dates of the Savior's baptism (on the day of Atonement) and the beginning of his public ministry (on Passover) are illustrated in Figure 2. Note the perfection of the astronomical timing. The Savior began his ministry exactly on his 30th birthday, even as the Levites began their temple service at age 30 (Num. 4:3). His public ministry lasted exactly three years, so that his life from birth to death was within a few hours of exactly 33 Hebrew years, having been born at 15 Nisan began and died as 14 Nisan ended. Thus it appears that his life was planned according to the Hebrew calendar, including the day of his death. Because of the foreknowledge of God, the Israelites had been commanded to sacrifice lambs for well over a thousand years on the very day each year on which the Lamb of God would also be slain.

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Figure 2. Key events in Christ's life occurred on ritual days on the Hebrew Calendar.

Now let us consider those same dates on the Enoch Calendar, remembering that the dates were derived by fitting to the ritual days on the Hebrew calendar. First, let us just consider the intervals between the dates. The period from the Savior's baptism to the beginning of his ministry was 182 days, exactly half a year on the Enoch calendar. Moreover, from his public ministry beginning on Sat 6 Apr A.D. 30 to his resurrection was exactly 3 Enoch years of 364 days. That is the very interval alignment already quoted from the Book of Enoch, namely, that after a three year period the Hebrew and Enoch calendars align with each other. Note that on our calendar the separation of those two dates is four days short of three years, but on the Hebrew calendar it is exactly three years, both days occurring on the Hebrew day 15 Nisan (Passover). Those two dates are also separated by exactly 1,092 days as described in the Book of Enoch, both days being the same day on the Enoch Calendar. Thus, the mathematical coincidence which allows these two dates in the life of Christ to fall on the same days on both the Hebrew and Enoch Calendar is explicitly stated in the Book of Enoch.

Correlation. Let us now consider the precise correlation of the Enoch calendar during the life of Christ to our calendar. The goal of the Enoch Calendar is to have the day of the Spring Equinox day (always a Saturday) fall near the new moon (1 Nisan or New Year on the Hebrew Calendar) and also near the actual spring equinox (20/21 March). The two years A.D. 30 and A.D. 33 are ideal models of the desired positions because 1 Nisan fell on Sat 23 Mar A.D. 30 and Sat 19 Mar A.D. 33, each only two days away from the equinox. Thus, although we don't know just when the Enoch Calendar would be intercalated, we can be sure that it would not be in, nor between, these two years because they are already perfectly aligned. To see how unusual that is, note that in the years within two decades of A.D. 30 and 33, there is not even one other year in which 1 Nisan falls on a Saturday between 17 Mar and 25 March. Thus, it is ideal that these two dates are so centered around the true equinox.

Enoch Calendar Holy Days. No holy days are specified in the Book of Enoch, but the same ones can be proposed to fall on days on the Enoch Calendar which are equivalent to the Hebrew. For example, Passover is supposed to be on the night of the full moon of spring, being 14 days after the new moon on or after the spring equinox. On the Hebrew calendar, that is the evening beginning the day 15 Nisan. On the Enoch Calendar, the equinox occurs on the day 0 Spring, so 14 days later is 14 Spring. Similarly, the feast of Tabernacles (15 Tishri on Hebrew) would be on 14 Autumn, both of which would always fall on a Saturday. The Sheaf Offering (Hebrew equivalent of Easter) would always fall on Sun 15 Spring and Pentecost would always fall on Sun 4 Late Spring.[21]

Now consider the key dates for the Savior on the Enoch Calendar. Because the Hebrew and Enoch calendars are perfectly aligned during the Savior's entire ministry, the day he began his public ministry was Passover on both the Hebrew and Enoch calendars. Similarly, the day of his resurrection was the Sheaf Offering on the Hebrew calendar, and either on Passover or Sheaf Offering on the Enoch calendar, depending on the time of the beginning of the Enoch day. The day of his baptism was on the day of Atonement on the Hebrew calendar (Sat 10 Tishri) and on the feast of Tabernacles on the Enoch calendar (Sat 14 Autumn).[22] So three of the four key dates in the Savior's life fell on holy days on both the Enoch and Hebrew Calendars.

Savior's Birth. But what about the Savior's birth date after sunset on Wed 5 Apr 1 B.C.? In the year 1 B.C., the day 1 Nisan did not fall on a Saturday as in A.D. 30 and 33, so the Enoch Calendar was not aligned with the Hebrew. While Christ was born right at the time of the Passover Feast on the Hebrew Calendar (the evening preceding Passover, Thu 6 Apr), it would have been either 11 Spring or 18 Spring on the Enoch calendar, depending on when the intercalation week is added. Thus, the Savior's birth date does not appear to fit the pattern.[23] Let us consider an alternate symbolism.

If three of the four key dates in the Savior's life are holy on the Enoch calendar, and if it really was revealed by an angel, the we would expect a pattern to be fulfilled that the Savior's birthday would also be represented. The day of the Savior's birth was more important than that of his baptism or public ministry, for even a star had heralded his birth. A little research reveals that there is a very likely substitute "birth date" on a variation of the Enoch calendar.

Note that intercalating 52 extra weeks over the period of 293 years as described above amounts to adding exactly one extra year of 364 days in that interval. That would be the same as 294 fixed 364-day years, which happens to equal 6 jubilees of 49 years each (6 x 49 = 294). [24] This suggests that there may actually be two different calendars implied by Enoch. The first, which could be called simply the "Enoch Calendar" would intercalate 52 weeks every 293 years and would keep aligned with the seasons as described in the text. The second could be called the "Enoch Fixed Calendar" and would consist of a straight 364-day count, never having any leap days or weeks added. It would rotate through the seasons; that is, its "first day of spring" would sometimes occur in summer, autumn or winter, but it would serve the purpose of accurately keeping track of the total number of weeks which had passed. After every 293 Enoch years (or 294 Enoch fixed years), the two calendars would again be perfectly aligned for a few years. Let's consider it more closely both because it is simpler and also because it appears to explain how the birth of Jesus Christ ties to the Enoch Calendar.

Presentation at the Temple. As noted above, during the 33-year life of the Savior, the Enoch Fixed Calendar would fall short of the usual solar year by 40 days. The law of Moses required that on the fortieth day after the birth of a son, the mother should present the child and an offering to the priest at the temple (Lev. 12:2-4). The boy's birthday was counted as the first day, so the offering was actually made 39 days after the birth. That means that the day of presentation at the temple fell on Sunday, 14 May 1 B.C. Because the Savior lived 33 years, that means the time from the presentation at the temple to his death was very close to 33 Enoch fixed years. When we do the calculation precisely, we see that it is exactly 33 years of 364 days from the Savior's presentation at the temple not to his death, but to his resurrection.

Correlation. We have seen that the Enoch Calendar and the Hebrew Calendar were aligned during the years of the Savior's public ministry and resurrection. The question arises of how to align the proposed 364-day Enoch Fixed Calendar with the other calendars. After all, it rotates through the seasons and so we need to determine where it was on at least one day in history in order to determine it for all time. The most obvious choice is to choose to align it to be identical with the seasonal Enoch Calendar during the three years of the Savior's ministry. If we do that, then the date of the offering of the firstborn of God at the temple would fall right on the day of the offering of the sheaf of firstfruits to God (15 Spring). That is such a symbolic match that it confirms our hunch that the choice of alignment is correct. So it is proposed that the Enoch and Enoch Fixed calendars were identical during the three years of the Savior's ministry. These relationships are illustrated in Figure 3.

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Figure 3. Key events in Christ's life occurred on holy days on the Enoch Fixed Calendar.

Let us now consider some witnesses that this 364-day calendar actually exists, and might still be used by angels. After all, from what we've seen so far, it was only suggested to explain the birth like event for the Savior on the Enoch calendar.

Mercury Calendar. The "birth" symbolism of the presentation at the temple finds a second witness in the Mercury calendar, which has been described elsewhere.[25] The "birth" of the planet Mercury occurs when it rises as an evening star, on the day "1 Birth" on the Mercury calendar. That day always occurs exactly 39 days after the day "1 Creation" on that calendar, which is the beginning of the Mercury cycle. The Savior was born on the day 1 Creation on the Mercury calendar. Sun 14 May 1 B.C. was the day 1 Birth on the Mercury calendar, a second witness to the birth symbolism of that day.[26]

Moreover, there is another witness that this 40-day interval (counting inclusively) on the Mercury calendar is indeed important in the Savior's life. The other 40-day interval mentioned during the life of Jesus Christ is his 40-day fast which commenced at his baptism (Mat. 4:2, Mark 1:12-13). The proposed date for the Savior's baptism, Sat 6 Oct A.D. 29 was the last day of the Mercury cycle (called 0 Creation), so 40 days later, Thu 15 Nov A.D. 29, again fell right on 1 Birth on the Mercury calendar. The fact that both of the 40-day periods in the life of Christ occurred during the exact same interval on the Mercury calendar attests both of the correctness of the dates as well as of the importance of the precise 40-day intervals. Perhaps that day could be considered the beginning of the Savior's preparatory ministry.[27]

Three and a half years. One more alignment ties the Mercury calendar to the calendar of Enoch. The period of the evening/morning star cycle of the planet Mercury averages 115.88 days. That means 11 Mercury cycles equals 1274 days which is exactly three and a half Enoch fixed years (3.5 x 364 = 1274). The three and a half year interval from the Savior's baptism until his resurrection exactly fits the Mercury cycle, with the resurrection occurring on the day 1 Creation of the Mercury cycle. Note that the Savior's birth also occurred on the day 1 Creation on the Mercury cycle, so that from birth to resurrection spanned exactly 104 Mercury cycles. (See Fig. 4).

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Figure 4. Key events in Christ's life occurred on holy days on the Mercury Calendar.

Table 1 summarizes the multiple holy day alignments during the life of Jesus Christ.

Table 1. Celestial Timing of the Life of Christ. The proposed dates of key events in the life of Jesus Christ occurred on holy days on five different sacred calendars. Only holy days on those calendars are listed.

Event	Gregorian	Hebrew	Sacred Round	Venus	Mercury	Enoch Fixed
Birth	Wed 5 Apr 1 BC pm*	Passover (15 Nisan)	1 Reed	1 Creation	1 Creation
Temple Offering	Sun 14 May 1 BC		1 Grass		1 Birth	Sheaf (15 Spring)
Baptism	Sat 6 Oct 29	Atonement (10 Tishri)	13 Water	0 Prime	0 Creation	Tabernacles (14 Autumn)
Preparatory Ministry	Thu 15 Nov 29		1 Water		1 Birth
Public Ministry	Sat 6 Apr 30	Passover (15 Nisan)	13 Monkey			Passover (14 Spring)
Resurrection	Sun 3 Apr 33 am*	Sheaf (16 Nisan)	13 Temple	1 Resurrection	1 Creation	Passover (14 Spring)

So far we have only seen examples from the life of Jesus Christ indicating that there may indeed be a fixed calendar of 364 days which angels might actually employ. Is there any reason that we should believe that such a calendar has actually been used over a long period of time? Are there any events from modern history that could attest that this calendar is still actually used?

What are some events in our time that might qualify as being interesting to angels? There are some, but not a huge variety to choose from. The following two examples, chosen from the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not offered as proof, but only as supporting evidence for such a calendar.

L.D.S. Day of Pentecost. There was one day in the history of the L.D.S. Church which has sometimes been called the L.D.S. "Day of Pentecost" because of the similarity to events which occurred on the Day of Pentecost shortly after the Savior's resurrection. It was the day on which the temple at Kirtland, Ohio was dedicated: Sun 27 Mar 1836. In order to appreciate the similarity, let us first review the events of the archetypal Day of Pentecost, which occurred on Sun, 22 May A.D. 33. That day was the day of Pentecost on the Hebrew, the Enoch, and the Enoch Fixed calendars, so it was a triple pentecostal alignment.

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)

Now compare these events to those at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple. Here is what one L.D.S. authority includes in his entry under the heading "Day of Pentecost":

"On Sunday, March 27, 1836, in the dedicatory service itself, an almost exact repetition of the events of the New Testament day of Pentecost took place. 'Brother George A. Smith arose and began to prophesy,' the prophet recorded, 'when a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the Temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues and prophesy; others saw glorious visions; and I beheld the Temple was filled with angels, which fact I declared to the congregation. The people of the neighborhood came running together (hearing an unusual sound within, and seeing a bright light like a pillar of fire resting upon the Temple), and were astonished at what was taking place.'" (History of the Church, vol. 2, p. 428.)[28]

This was surely a great outpouring of spiritual events. Note that it included all three of the distinguishing characteristics of the former Pentecost, namely, the sound of the mighty wind, the cloven tongues of fire and the gift of tongues. Moreover, angels were actually seen by many, so there is no question that this was an event which might have been a red-letter day on their calendar. Until now, no mention has been made of the calendrical significance of that day, other than the fact that the events of the week beginning that day seemed to parallel the last week of the Savior's life.[29]

Let us consider the date of the L.D.S. Day of Pentecost on the Enoch Fixed Calendar. It turns out that it occurred on the very of Pentecost on that calendar, being 4 Late Spring. That is the same day that the Pentecost of Sun 22 May A.D. 33 also occurred on that calendar.[30] This coincidence seems significant because it was not just any holiday on the Enoch Fixed Calendar, but on the very one on which a similar experience occurred.

After this article was supposedly completed, it occurred to me that the power of a scientific theory is found in its ability to predict new results that were not known at the time the theory was developed. We have seen that the most important days on the Enoch fixed calendar during the Savior's life occurred on its Passover feast day. So let's see what happened in L.D.S. church history on Sat 6 Feb 1836, which was 14 Spring (Passover) on the Enoch Fixed Calendar in the year of the above Pentecost experience. This was a date that was entirely new to me. Here is what the Prophet Joseph Smith recorded for that day:

"Called the anointed together to receive the seal of all their blessings. . . . to bring them to the order which God had shown me, . . . all the quorums were to shout with one accord a solemn hosanna to God and the Lamb . . . and if any obtain a prophecy or vision, to rise and speak that all may be edified and rejoice together.

". . . the quorum of the Seventy enoyed a great flow of the Holy Spirit. Many arose and spoke, testifying that they were filled with the Holy Ghost, which was like fire in their bones, so that they could not hold their peace, but were constrained to cry hosanna to God and the Lamb, and glory in the highest. . . . And others were filled with the Spirit and spake in tongues and prophesied. This was a time of rejoicing long to be remembered. Praise the Lord." (History of the Church, 2:391-2)

Gathering of Israel. The day on which President Brigham Young led the L.D.S. people into the valley of the Great Salt Lake was Sat 24 Jul 1847. That day is celebrated as a Utah state holiday every year, and is very important to members of the L.D.S. Church. It turns out that the day was also the Feast of Tabernacles on the Fixed Enoch Calendar (14 Autumn). Again, the particular holiday involved may be significant, because the Feast of Tabernacles is associated with events of the latter-days. It is also called the Feast of Ingatherings and seems to be symbolic of the gathering of scattered Israel in the last days. Indeed, the L.D.S. people believed they were to gather Israel to that area, and it commenced at that time. Thus these dates serve as two witnesses that the Enoch Fixed Calendar really exists and is still in use.

The Book of Enoch contains some advanced astronomical descriptions of calendars which merit further investigation. The volume was accepted as scripture by the Savior and still appears to be authentic. The combined witness of many calendars shows us how the birth, atonement, and resurrection of Jesus Christ had been carefully scheduled long ago and that a "record in heaven" has been kept for us in the motion of the sun, moon and planets. This is a strong witness of the correctness of these dates and that at least some of these calendars were important in the timing of key events in the life of Jesus Christ.

Notes
20. The proposed Resurrection date was published in "The Restoration of Priesthood Keys on Easter 1836, Part 1: Dating the First Easter,"Ensign 15, No. 6 (June, 1985), pp. 59-68. Dates for the Savior's birth and beginning of public ministry were published in " Passover: Was it Symbolic of His Coming,"The Ensign 24, 1 (Jan, 1994), pp 38-45. The date of his baptism is in "What Every Mormon Should Know About Astronomy," Meridian Magazine (12 May 2000).

21. The date of the Sheaf Offering was a point of contention between the Pharisee and Sadducee sects at the time of Christ, based on different interpretations of Lev. 23:11. The text says the waving of the sheaf (of barley) should occur on the day after the sabbath. The Sadducees interpreted that to mean that the offering should always be on a Sunday, the day after Saturday, the weekly sabbath. That is the same as we now celebrate the equivalent Christian holiday: Easter always occurs on a Sunday. But the Pharisees interpreted "sabbath" to mean the special holy day of Passover (15 Nisan). Thus they offered the sheaf on 16 Nisan, no matter what day of the week it was (the same as on the modern Hebrew Calendar). In the year A.D. 33 of the Resurrection, both agreed because 16 Nisan fell on Easter Sunday. These results also affect the date of Pentecost (Feast of Firstfruits or Feast of Weeks) because that festival always fell exactly 7 weeks after the Sheaf Offering (Lev. 23:15). Thus the Pharisees held it on 6 Sivan and the Sadducees held it seven Sundays after the Sheaf Offering. Again, both agreed in A.D. 33 because 6 Sivan was on Sun 22 May. (See Harold W. Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, Grand Rapids, Mich., Zondervan, 1977, pp. 83-4). On the proposed Enoch Calendar, there would be no debate because Passover would always be on a Saturday, and hence the Sheaf Offering would always be Sun 15 Spring and Pentecost on Sun 4 Late Spring.

22. The reason that the date is on 10 Tishri, rather than 15 Tishri, is that it falls half a solar year before the public ministry, but the Hebrew calendar uses lunar years of an average of 354 days. Thus, half a solar year (182 days) is five days more than half a lunar year (177 days), so it fell five days earlier than 15 Tishri.

23. The day 10 Nisan is a minor holy day on the Hebrew calendar, the day on which the Passover lamb is chosen (Ex. 12:3). It could possibly correspond to 11 Spring, but that seems unlikely, and would need more evidence to justify declaring that 11 Spring was the day to set apart the lamb on the Enoch Calendar.

24. The jubilee is a Hebrew unit of 7 "weeks" of years, or 7 x 7 = 49 years. It is often mistakenly thought to have been a fifty year cycle, because the fiftieth year was celebrated (Lev. 25:10). But the fiftieth was the same as the first, so there were only 49 years in the cycle.

25. Pratt, John P. " A Native American Easter: How the Ancient American Calendar Testifies of Christ," Meridian Magazine (28 Mar 2001).

26. Another witness of the date Sun 14 May 33 being correct is that it was 1 Grass on the Sacred Round of the Native Americans (discussed in the article referenced in footnote 25). Grass was the symbol of the Resurrection (grass growing out of a skull), which was a symbol of the Savior. An important feature of these many calendrical alignments is not only that they were holy days (all days numbered 1 were holy on the Sacred Round) but also the meaning of the specific day seems to be important. This is a very difficult area to quantify for statistical studies, but it is still possible.

27. Note also that the Native American Sacred Round emphasizes the importance of the 40-day interval by even having a special name for it, the "foot." When one counts by feet on the Sacred Round, the day name advances by one on the 13-day trecena count. For example, 40-days after the day 1 Water, is 2 Water. The Savior was baptized on the day 13 Water on the Sacred Round. Forty days later was the day 1 Water, on Thu 15 Nov A.D. 29. The day 1 Water seems to support the proposal that the day began the preparatory ministry because "water" may represent "living water."

28. McConkie, Bruce R., Mormon Doctrine, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1966) "Day of Pentecost", p. 182.

29. Pratt, John P., "The Restoration of Priesthood Keys on Easter 1836, Part 2: Symbolism of Passover and of Elijah's Return," Ensign 15, No. 7 (July, 1985), p. 64.

30. Astronomers employ what is called the Julian Day, which is simply a continuous day count, to facilitate such calculations. The Julian Day number of 22 May A.D. 33 was 1,733,255 and of 27 Mar 1836 was 2,391,731. The difference between them of 658,476 days is exactly 1,809 years of 364 days each.

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John P. Pratt writes a monthly column for Meridian Magazine giving one L.D.S. perspective on current science.  He has a Ph.D. in astronomy and specializes in religious chronology and ancient calendars. He has authored several articles in the Ensign and professional journals, many of which can be found on his web site at http://www.johnpratt.com. His lovely wife Ruth has written books on family history. They are the parents of five wonderful children.

Enoch Calendar Testifies of Christ, Part I

Enoch Calendar Testifies of Christ, Part II
by John P. Pratt