Calendar of Appointed Times (Feasts) dates for 2024

A number of people have asked for a calendar of Appointed Times (Feast Dates) for 2024, set out to the gregorian calendar

While the Appointed Times were initially given to Israel for observation, they are just as applicable to believers today who are grafted into Israel. But here is the confusing part, modern christianity seeks to worship the Messiah under a false name, proclaim to follow Him, but very few rely on the Scriptures as their sole source for doctrine and religious observances.

The Feasts of the Father included in the Bible were established for the Israeli people to observe as part of their covenant with Him. These feasts include Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles.

In the New Testament, we see that the Messiah and His disciples observed the feasts, as did the early church. We also see in Acts that Paul followed the Feasts (Acts 18:21 and 20:1-6) and even exhorted others to follow the Feasts in Colossians 5:8.

Colossians 5:8 So then let us celebrate the festival, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of evil and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

However, most people have been educated by their denomination that the “Feasts” have nothing to do with believers today, they have been taught that after the Messiahs sacrifice and resurrection fulfilled all of the Torah instead of just the first part of the Fathers Salvation plan. The Messiahs sacrifice fulfilled the need for blood offerings for the forgiveness of sin, and He now stands as our mediator. Most teachers will teach that the feasts are no longer relevant because they were part of the Old Covenant and have been replaced by the New Covenant, but this is not what the Scriptures say. It is simply that they have chosen, as a matter of denominational doctrine, to lead people away from the Father salvation plan.

The Scriptures and the Messiah talk about fulfillment of the Law and a renewed covenant. The Messiahs sacrifice certainly fulfilled the sacrificial parts of the Law, and also the Spring Feasts, but the Autumn Feasts remain unfulfilled as this is the great ingathering, the end of time judgement.

Teaching that the Feasts are no longer necessary is like saying the Messiah removed the Fathers Salvation Plan - but nothing could be further from the truth. Natsarim remember and celebrate the Feasts, as grafted in believers to Israel. The Messiah said in Matthew 5:17

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete.

The Feasts are a shadow of things that have been (Spring Feasts) and things yet to come (Autumn Feasts).

The Spring Feasts teach us of the start of the Fathers salvation plan, the completion of the need for blood sacrifices as the Messiahs sacrifice was our ongoing blood sacrifice for the atonement of our sins. The spring feasts are fulfilled and the sacrificial system are completed.

The Autumn feasts teach us of what is yet to come, and set out what we should be following in our own personal walk with the Messiah. Yom Teruah teaches repentance; Yom Kippur redemption; and Sukoth, rejoicing. On Yom Teruah, the sound of the ram’s horn calls each believer to repent and confess their sins before the Father. The Yom Kippur is when peace is made with the Father through atonement of sin, and this is also the Messiahs blood sacrifice on our behalf. On Sukkoth, believers obey the Father’s command to rejoice over the harvest (the in-gathering of souls) and the goodness of the Father.

But it is necessary for us first to pass first through repentance and redemption in order to experience His joy, and this requires each believer to take a personal step in faith.

The Scriptures are unclear on what calendar the Father requires us to use, and when the Scriptural day starts. There is a lot of debate among believers over which calendar to follow, and I suggest that you read the web page "The Hebrew Calendar". The Scriptures give us little guidance on what the calendar is, we do know editing appears to have adjusted the Hebrew calendar at the time of the Babylonian captivity, merging elements of the babylonian calendar into the Hebrew calendar. For instance sunset to sunset day is the tradition that replaced the Scriptural sunrise to sunrise day that we follow.

Genesis records that the Father meticulously laid out the stars and the sun and moons and ordained the cycle of new moons that mark the months and seasons. The Father instructed Moses to assemble the people on Appointed days He created to celebrate His provision and establish a plan of redemption and marked by the Hebrew calendar. Getting dates and time accurate is essential to complying with the Appointed Times. We follow a solar year, lunar month, solar week and solar day calendar.

Contrary to common belief, and you can obverse it through the Scriptures, the Fathers day, the day period followed by Moses, is from sunrise to sunrise, refer to "day period" at the Hebrew Calendar. This is evident throughout the Scriptures but the one I would point readers to of the references is

Exodus 12:6 ‘And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same new moon. Then all the assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slay it between the evenings........ 14 ‘And this day shall become to you a remembrance. And you shall celebrate it as a festival to Yahuah throughout your generations – celebrate it as a festival, an everlasting law.

Leviticus 23:5 ‘In the first new moon, on the fourteenth day of the new moon, between the evenings, is the Passover to Yahuah.

"between the evenings" generally meant the period from late afternoon until one hour before sunset. There can be no Passover feast without a Passover sacrifice. The instructions in verse 14 to keep this day as a memorial can only mean the day of Passover. It does not mean the days of Passover, as if there are two separate days, one for the sacrifice and the second for the feast. It means that there is only one day and only one Passover. Yes, the Passover comes in two parts, but both parts must occur on the same day because verse 14 says "this day shall be unto you for a memorial".

The only way this sequence can be fulfilled, and it would have been plainly obvious to those alive at the time of Moses, was for the day to begin and end at sunrise. The Messiah must also have kept sunrise to sunrise as the Gospels record a sequence where only the slaughter of the Passover lamb and the Passover supper had to be on the same 24 hour day.

Matthew 26: 17 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread the taught ones came to יהושע, saying to Him, “Where do You wish us to prepare for You to eat the Pĕsaḥ?”

Mark 14:12 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they were slaughtering the Pĕsaḥa lamb, His taught ones said to Him, “Where do You wish us to go and prepare, for You to eat the Passover?

Luke 22: 7 And the Day of Unleavened Bread came when the Passover had to be slaughtered.

Consequently the Feast days span two gregorian calendar dates, starting at sunrise on one day, and finishing at sunrise on the following day.

The only one of the following Appointed Times that is not sunrise to sunrise is Yom Kippur. This departure is clearly spelt out in the Scriptures as being different to other days in Leviticus 23:32. If this day had the same beginning and end, it would not have been necessary to specify it.

Leviticus 23:17 32 ‘It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you shall afflict your beings. On the ninth day of the new moon at evening, from evening to evening, you observe your Sabbath.”

Using a sunrise to sunrise "day" enables the sequences set out in Genesis and Exodus to stand alone as correct, without requiring interpretation. I think the adoption of sunset to sunset was a babylonian calendar change that was made, and therefore one that we should not keep. Dates in red printing are High Sabbaths. On these days no servile work should be done, unless it needs to be done, e.g. medical aid, watering or feeding people or stock etc. The focus for these days is the Fathers word, and spending time seeking the Father.

According to https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html?cal=2023#skycal, the new moon occurs at 20:21 on the 8 April 2024. This makes the first day of Nisan to equate to the gregorian date of 9 April 2024. This then sets the days for the Feasts.

The table below sets out the Appointed Times for 2024. The days in red are High Sabbath Days, and these are days on which you only do essential work. The day is set aside to Yahuah, to worship, study, pray and join with other believers to celebrate the Fathers Salvation plan

A comparison of the Hebrew calendar to the gregorian calendar is below. Note that the Hebrew month is tied to the lunar calendar, and not the solar calendar which is the gregorian calendar.

There are some interesting parallels in the Feast dates of Yahuah. For instance:

The first month of the year is Nisan, and the calendar could begin before the Vernal Equinox, but would be close (vernal equinox is when day and night are the same length)
The exodus from captivity started with the Passover, but it also ended with the Passover as the Hebrews crossed the Jordan into Israel, the promised land on the 10 day of the first month (Joshua 4:19), and first ate the produce of the land on Passover day (Joshua 5:10). That is, the Hebrews exodus from captivity is framed at both ends with Passovers. Our salvation also started with Passover with the sacrifice of the Messiah, but has not yet ended.
On the 10th day of the first month of the year, the Passover lamb is selected. And the 10th day of the seventh month (half a year later) is the Yom Kippur - the Day of Atonement.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread starts on the 15th day of the first month and continues for a week. The Feast of Tabernacles starts on the 15th day of the seventh month and continues for a week. Both of these weeks start and end with a High Sabbath (Set Apart day).
If you believe in the lunar-solar calendar, both Passover and Tabernacles fall on the full moon.

Some additional interesting facts, days set out in the Scriptures can be divided into three groups.

Days requiring no work be done unless that work is necessary, ie relates to safety or health;

The weekly Sabbath - Leviticus 23:3
10th Tishri, The Day of Atonement - Leviticus 23:28,30,31

Days requiring no customary (occupational/servile) work be done unless that work is necessary, ie relates to safety or health;

15th Nisan, 1st day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread - Leviticus 23:7
21st Nisan, 7th day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread - Leviticus 23:8
6th Sivan, Feast of Weeks/Pentecost - Leviticus 23:21
1 Tishri, Day of Trumpets - Lev 23:25
15 Tishri, 1st day of Feast of Tabernacles - Leviticus 23:35
22nd Tishri, Last Great Day - Leviticus 23:36

Days on which any work could be done;

14th day of Nissan, Passover - Leviticus 23:5
The first day of the new week following 15 Nisan, Feast of first fruits - Leviticus 23:10 to 14
16th to 20th Nisan, 2nd day to 6th day of Feast of Unleavened Bread - Leviticus 23:5, 6
16th to 21st Tishri, 2nd day to 7th day of the Feast of Tabernacles - Leviticus 23:35,36

The Messiah, his disciples, and all of the early church kept the Feasts. This example shows us that we also must keep the Feasts. We are called to be set apart from the sin in the world around us all of the time, not just on those days.

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you prove what is that good and well-pleasing and perfect desire of Elohim.

Web page last updated 27 January 2024