Gene Benjamin II
The Manna Miracle
The Manna Miracle
Yahweh refuses to let me stray far from my studies of Sacred Chronology in the Scriptures. In this study we will continue the thought found in my December 4, 2011, blog post called The Second Sunday. That article introduces us to the study of when The Manna Miracle began and ended. In that study I stated that the Israelites had manna provision for about 39 years and 11 months. Well, as always, we use the first rule of Bible study and interpretation: Let Scripture interpret Scripture. Upon that basis, I can now state with confidence that the Israelites experienced The Manna Miracle for exactly 40 years plus about one lunar month, or 27.69228 days.
In my previous post, we learned on which day manna began and on which day manna ended. Let’s bring back the Scripture references to further examine this ancient miracle. Exodus 16:1 (NKJV) “And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt.” As I stated in 2011, after much chronology and calendar research, I determined the date the Israelites arrived at the Wilderness of Sin and the beginning of manna provision was the Hebrew date of Iyar (biblical Ziv) 15, 2177 Jewish year, which translates to Shabbat, or Saturday, May 5, 1584 BCE Gregorian, or May 20, Julian calendar. For you who are aware of the great chronologist Eugene Faulstich, this was the creation year 2417 on his calendar conversion system. If, at this point, you need to go back and reread my post titled The Second Sunday, do so to follow the progression of the days described in Exodus 16. Notice that in verse 4, Yahweh prophesies to Moses on Iyar 15 (see verse 1 above), that He will rain down manna for the Israelites to eat, with twice as much provided on Fridays (verse 5), so the Israelites can rest on Shabbat (Saturday). Yahweh is about to re-synchronize Israel with His Sacred Calendar and week, or shabuwa. Notice that verse 4 also says that Yahweh will use the manna miracle to test the Israelites’ hearts, to see if they will follow His law or not. You may want to use this blog post as your test to see if you will re-synchronize with Yahweh’s week of rest cycles.
Remember that the Hebrew day begins at sunset. Now read verses 6 through 18 and see that the feeding miracle of manna from Yahweh in Heaven began on SUNDAY morning, the first day of the Hebrew biblical week, Iyar 16, 1584 BCE, known by astronomers and astrophysicists as Julian day (or serial day) number 1143007.75 (some calendar converters may call this Julian day number 1143008, see http://www.abdicate.net/cal.aspx). This is the date of Iyar 16, 2177 Jewish, a Sunday on Yahweh’s Hebrew calendar, or May 6/7 Gregorian, or May 21 Julian calendar. That was about 3,596 years ago, if you were wondering. That date is our beginning marker day for calculating how many days, weeks, and years Israel received The Manna Miracle. Are we all agreed on this point? Good, then let’s move forward.
Look at verses 19-20 and see the lack of faith and trust in Yahweh; some tried to keep the daily manna until Monday morning of the 17th, but it spoiled and stank!! In verses 21-22 we see that the whole congregation collected manna on a daily basis for 6 days, gathering twice as much on Friday, May 11, or Iyar 21, 1584 BCE. Then in verses 23-31 we see Moses explain the Shabbat to the people and commanded them to rest on Shabbat, Saturday, May 12, Iyar 22, 1584 BCE (Julian Day or Serial Day number 1143014). Notice that some still did not trust Yahweh and went out looking for new Manna on that first re-synchronizing Shabbat, even though the manna they collected on Friday was still good to eat!! Humans haven’t changed at all over the millennia. Yahweh miraculously provided manna on a daily basis, with twice as much on Fridays, and no new manna on Saturdays for 40 years in the wilderness, no matter where the Israelites were camped.
So now let’s move forward 40 years, plus 27.69228 days, and find out when The Manna Miracle ended. To find our ending date of The Manna Miracle, we move into the book of Joshua. Let’s begin by setting our clocks forward 40 years and getting the calendar date from Joshua 4:19 (NKJV) “Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.” Joshua and the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, 40 YEARS AFTER THE EXODUS, on Sunday, Nisan 10, April 8, 1544 BCE, or 2217 Jewish (Julian Day or Serial Day number 1157589). Now let’s move into Joshua chapter 5 and find out when The Manna Miracle ended.
In Joshua 5:6 we learn that all the circumcised men of war who came out of Egypt walked 40 years in the wilderness and died there. All the young men born in the wilderness had not been circumcised. So Joshua circumcised them on Sunday/Monday, Nisan 10/11, 1544 BCE. They healed for three days, then we read in Joshua 5:10 (NKJV) “Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho.” Passover is always kept on Nisan 14, the 14th day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar. This was the first Passover celebration in the Promised Land, Thursday, Nisan 14, 1544 BCE (Julian Day or Serial Day number 1157593). Then in verse 11 we read, (NKJV) “And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day.” This day was Friday, Nisan 15, 1544 BCE (Julian Day or Serial Day number 1157594). On that first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Friday, Nisan 15, the Israelites ate grain that was available in the Promised Land, as well as collected their double portion of manna provided by Yahweh, just as they had been doing for the last 40 years, non-stop, uninterrupted by war or traversing the wilderness, or by crossing the River Jordan.
Now I will share with you something that I just discovered today, something I did not find or realize back in December, 2011, with my Second Sunday post. Let’s now read Joshua 5:12 (NKJV) “Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.” From our previous post titled The Second Sunday, we already know that this day was Nisan 16, 1544 BCE. But now let’s look at that Hebrew word translated here as “ceased”. It is Strong’s number 7673, the Hebrew word Shaw-bath, or Shabbat!! Do you get it? THE MANNA MIRACLE ceased, ended, rested, or Shabbated, on Saturday, Nisan 16, April 14, 1544 BCE, or 2217 Jewish, April 28 Julian, the SHABBAT AFTER THEY ENTERED THE PROMISED LAND OF REST! Do you get it now? The Manna Miracle STOPPED, ENDED, CEASED, SHABBATED, EXACTLY 2,084 weeks, or shabuwas, or Sabbath training cycles, AFTER IT BEGAN BACK IN 1584 BCE!! After 2,084 Sabbath training cycles, Israel should have had a solid handle on when and how to celebrate the Shabbat!! How much Sabbath training in the wilderness do you need? A word to the wise should be sufficient.
How do I know it was EXACTLY 2,084 weeks after The Manna Miracle began? Well, Saturday, Nisan 16, 1544 BCE just happens to be Julian Day (or serial day) number 1157595. The Manna began on the first day of the week, Sunday, Iyar 16, 1584 BCE. Then AFTER EXACTLY 2,084 Sunday through Shabbat, or shabuwa cycles, The Manna Miracle was over, completing the Israelite training on the weekly Shabbat for all time. How did I come to this conclusion? Since it is perfect in it’s cyclical pattern, let’s find the inclusive Julian day numbers. Take the next day, Sunday, Nisan 17, or Julian day number 1157596 and subtract the beginning Julian day number from 1584 BCE, Julian day number 1143008. 1157596 – 1143008 = 14,588 days, EXACTLY. Is this answer divisible by 7 days in a week, or shabuwa? Yes, it is!! 14,588 days / 7 days per week = EXACTLY 2,084 weeks, or shabuwas!!!! So, how many years is that? Remember my statement in the first paragraph above, about the 40 years plus 27.69228 days? That’s pretty close to 28 days, or one lunar month, so let’s subtract 28 days from our 14,588 day total and arrive at 14,560 days. 14,560 days / 7 days per week = 2,080 weeks / 52 weeks per year = 40 years EXACTLY!! So The Manna Miracle lasted EXACTLY 40 years, PLUS one lunar month. From 1 day after the full moon in Iyar, 1584 BCE, to 1 day after the full moon in Nisan, 1544 BCE. Pretty cool, huh? So, in 14,588 days we saw 493.996, or 494 lunations, or lunar cycles.
In my December, 2011, post I estimated that the Israelites had enjoyed The Manna Miracle for about 39 years and 11 months, I was off by a couple months. They actually enjoyed The Manna Miracle directly from the hand of Yahweh for EXACTLY 40 years and 1 month. 14,588 days of supernatural provision, and you’re worried about 7 years in a Tribulation. Pshaaaah. Get some faith, people.
Do your own research, but violating, defiling, not observing the Sabbath is a capital crime, punishable by death. The Sabbath laws have never been repealed, amended, or nailed to an execution tree. You figure it out. Read the rest of Joshua 5, once The Manna Miracle ceased, Yahweh was ready to make war on His enemies. Nuff said?
Gene Benjamin II
February 2, 2013 CE
NOTES: 1 – I noticed a slight difference between Eugene Faulstich’s calendar conversion program and the calendar conversion program at http://www.abdicate.net/cal.aspx. Abdicate has a more accurate count of Serial Day numbers and days of the week, but Eugene Faulstich’s program has a more accurate lunar calendar. Serial Day number 1157595 is in the month of Iyar on Abdicate’s site, but it is Nisan 16 on Eugene Faulstich’s program, more biblically accurate, per our Scripture references. The 14,588 days of The Manna Miracle is EXACT and indisputable. I created a 15,000 line spreadsheet (don’t ask) to verify the two calendar conversion programs. The complete Manna Miracle Cycle lasted EXACTLY 14,588 days, or EXACTLY 2,084 complete Shabuwa or Weekly cycles, from Sunday, Serial Day number 1143008 through Saturday, Serial Day number 1157595, inclusive.
2 – Just for fun and your edification, I calculated how many Sabbath cycles, Shabuwas, or work weeks we’ve experienced since Yahweh re-synchronized the Israelites in the wilderness in 1584 BCE. Let’s use Super Bowl Sunday as our starting reference point to calculate backwards and find the inclusive weeks since Iyar 16, 1584 BCE, the beginning of the new Manna and Shabbat cycles. Sunday, February 3, 2013 CE is Julian Day or Serial Day number 2456327. Iyar 16, 1584 BCE is Julian Day or Serial Day number 1143008. 2456327 – 1143008 = 1,313,319 days / 7 days per week = 187,617 full Sabbath cycles have been completed from Iyar 16, 1584 BCE through Shabbat, February 2, 2013 CE, Shevat 22, 5773 Jewish. Our work and rest cycle week has remained intact at exactly 7 days per week, unbroken Shabuwas since Iyar 16, 1584 BCE, when Yahweh re-synchronized the Israelites to His Sabbath calendar. The Shabuwa is the foundation of our Hebrew lifestyle and has remained unchanged for the last 3,596 years. I don’t believe Yahweh will be changing His Sabbath rest day anytime soon.