Ten Reasons Nisan 1 Is A Pivotal Date In 2022

Here are ten reasons Nisan 1 (April 2) is a pivotal date in 2022:

1. DANIEL'S SEVEN WEEKS

Nisan 1 this year marks the completion of seven Sabbatical weeks since the 1967 restoration of Jerusalem to the Jews.  This is significant because Daniel's Weeks Prophecy says Messiah will appear "seven weeks" after Jerusalem is restored:

"From the going forth of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks (Dan. 9:25). 

The only modern restoration of Jerusalem occurred in June 1967 when the Jews took possession of the Holy City for the first time in nearly 2,000 years. Counting seven weeks from the start of the first Sabbatical week following Jerusalem's 1967 restoration (Nisan 1973), we arrive at Nisan 2022.

2. THE FIFTIETH YEAR 

Because Nisan 1 marks the completion of seven Sabbatical weeks, it also marks the start of a fiftieth year, a potential Jubilee (Lev. 25:8-10).

It is interesting to note that, because 2022 is a fiftieth year, this year's Pentecost, or fiftieth day, represents a "fiftieth within a fiftieth," a numeric concurrence denoting harvest and the fullness of time that occurs only twice a century.

3. JERUSALEM'S WALL

Nisan 1 this year marks the completion of "seven" and "sixty-two" Sabbatical weeks since Jerusalem's wall was rebuilt by Islamic ruler Suleiman. This is significant because Daniel's Weeks Prophecy mentions specifically the wall surrounding Jerusalem being rebuilt:

"From the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall" (Dan. 9:25). 

Suleiman ordered the rebuilding of Jerusalem's wall in 1536-37 AD. Counting "seven" and "sixty-two" weeks from the start of the first Sabbatical week following the order to rebuild (Nisan 1539 AD), we arrive at Nisan 2022.

4. SOLAR ECLIPSE ANNIVERSARY

Nisan 1 this year marks seven years to the day since a total solar eclipse darkened the northernmost tip of the globe, the point where the longitudinal lines intersecting every nation and landmass converge.

Besides occurring on the biblical New Year, the Nisan eclipse coincided with the spring equinox. For perspective, a total solar eclipse occurs on the spring equinox only one other time during the roughly 750-year period spanning 1662 AD-2406 AD. Such an eclipse at the top of the globe, however, is said to happen only once every 100,000 years, making it unprecedented.

According to the Talmud, solar eclipses are a sign for the Gentile world. That the unprecedented Nisan eclipse occurred seven years ago is significant because God is known for giving a seven-year warning prior to bringing judgment (Gen. 7; 41; Josh. 6).

5. THE ELEVENTH WEEK

Nisan 1 this year marks the start of the eleventh Sabbatical week (2022-29) since Israel became a nation in 1948. The number eleven denotes chaos, disorder, and judgment in Scripture, themes associated with the Tribulation period. 

The next Sabbatical cycle (2029-36) is the twelfth. The number twelve signifies God's authority and a perfect governmental foundation in Scripture, pointing to the establishment of Jesus' Millennial Kingdom.

6. THE 354th WEEK

Nisan 1 this year marks the start of the 354th Sabbatical week since Daniel's Weeks Prophecy began to be fulfilled when a group of Jews began the journey home to Jerusalem, from Babylon, on the first day of Nisan in 457 BC (Ezra 7:9).

The number 354 is significant for a couple of reasons. First, it is the number of days comprising the lunar year. Since the Moon is symbolic of the Church, or Bride of Christ, it could be said that 354 denotes the fullness of time related to the Bride. 

Second, it is interesting to note that . . .

Strong's #354 in the Hebrew concordance is the word ayyal, referring to a stag, or male deer. 

Strong's #354 in the Greek concordance is the word analémpsis, referring to a "taking up" into heaven. 

That the Hebrew and Greek words related to the number 354 refer to a stag and a taking up to heaven is striking because one of the most profound rapture illustrations in the Bible depicts Jesus as a young stag who comes suddenly to gather up His beloved:

"The voice of my beloved!

Behold, he comes

Leaping upon the mountains,

Skipping upon the hills.

My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.

Behold, he stands behind our wall;

He is looking through the windows,

Gazing through the lattice.

My beloved spoke, and said to me:

'Rise up, my love, my fair one,

And come away'" (Song 2:8-10).

While concurrences like the above do not carry the same weight as Scripture, they nonetheless give one pause. In the New Testament the word coincidence is used only once (Luke 10:31). It is translated from a Greek word, synkyria, which is defined as "a confluence that occurs by God's providential arrangement of circumstances." 

That is to say, where God is concerned, there are no coincidences.

The following anniversaries are not, as the above, precisely linked to Nisan 1. However, they do occur within days or months of this pivotal date.

7. BETHLEHEM STAR

June 30 this year marks seven years since a once-in-two-millennia appearance of the "Bethlehem-Star," the Jupiter-Venus conjunction that heralded Jesus' first coming. 

Could this dazzling and much publicized heavenly alignment have been a seven-year warning pointing to the return of Jesus?

8. BLOOD MOONS 

2022 marks seven years since consecutive blood-moon eclipses occurred on the spring and fall harvest festivals, Passover and Tabernacles. Significantly, the Tabernacles eclipse was a "super blood moon," a phenomenon in which the Moon's proximity to Earth causes it to appear particularly large. 

According to the Talmud, blood moons are a bad omen for Israel. Could the extra-large blood moon of 2015, visible above Jerusalem, have been the ultimate seven-year warning?

9. LEAFING OF THE FIG-TREE 

March 10 this year marks 73 years since the newly planted 'fig tree,' Israel, substantially enlarged its borders by prevailing in the first Arab-Israeli War. That same spring, the fledgling Jewish nation established its first government and was admitted to the UN Organization.

 

Israel's growth spurt in spring 1949 is noteworthy because Jesus says the generation who sees the still tender fig branch "put forth leaves" will see all the end-times events come to pass (Matt. 24:32, 34). 

A typical human lifespan in Scripture is 70-80 years (Ps. 90:10). Counting 80 years from 1949, we arrive at 2029. Subtracting seven years, the presumed length of the Tribulation period, we arrive at 2022.

10. THE SETTING UP OF AN ABOMINATION 

2022 marks 1,335 years since the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine dedicated to Allah, was built on the Temple Mount in 687-88 AD. This is significant because in Daniel's final vision of the end times, the setting up of an abomination that causes desolation is an important time-marker: 

"From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days" (Dan. 12:11, 12).

In Daniel's prophecies, a day typically represents a year (9:24-27). Counting 1,290 prophetic years from when the daily Temple sacrifice was taken away by Nebuchadnezzar in 586-85 BC, we arrive at 687-88 AD, the year the Dome of the Rock was set up. Counting forward 1,335 years from when the Dome of the Rock was set up, we arrive at 2022.

To sum up, the first day of Nisan in 2022 marks, precisely . . .

• The end of "seven weeks" from the modern restoration of Jerusalem.

• The start of the 50th year from the modern restoration of Jerusalem.

• The end of "seven" and "sixty-two" weeks from the rebuilding of Jerusalem's wall by Suleiman.

• The seven-year anniversary of an unprecedented solar eclipse at the top of the globe. 

• The start of the eleventh Sabbatical week since Israel became a nation in 1948.

• The start of the 354th Sabbatical week since Daniel's Weeks Prophecy began to be fulfilled in 457 BC.

Anniversaries not precisely linked to Nisan 1, but which occur within days or months of this date, include:

• The seven-year anniversary of the Bethlehem Star conjunction.

• The seven-year anniversary of consecutive blood moons on God's harvest festivals.

• The 73rd anniversary of the 'leafing of the fig tree' in spring 1949. 

• The 1,335th anniversary of the setting up of an abomination on the Temple Mount.

With the above in view, it can be said that the year beginning at Nisan marks a calendrical convergence like no other.

The most compelling anniversaries are those related to Daniel 9:25, a verse purposed to convey the time of Jesus' coming by a reckoning of Sabbatical weeks.

It defies coincidence that Daniel's weeks may be counted separately or together and from different orders to rebuild Jerusalem to point to the same year: 2022. This remarkable concurrence is a result of the two orders to rebuild the Holy City (Suleiman and contemporary) being separated by a span of sixty-two weeks.

What's more, the seven-weeks reckoning suggests the year beginning at Nisan is a Jubilee.

Only God knows what events 2022 might bring. However, it is certainly a year ripe with possibility.

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1. The accuracy of our reckoning of Daniel's weeks and potential Jubilee depends on the correctness of the Sabbatical cycle.

2. Current Sabbatical years, according to the accepted Jewish reckoning:

1951-52

1958-59

1965-66

1972-73

1979-80

1986-87

1993-94

2000-01

2007-08

2014-15

2021-22

2028-29

3. More on Sabbatical Years:

http://www.pickle-publishing.com/papers/sabbatical-years.htm

http://www.pickle-publishing.com/.../sabbatical-years...

http://www.pickle-publishing.com/.../sabbatical-years...

4. Because Daniel's weeks refer to the fixed Sabbatical cycle, the count must begin at the start of an actual Sabbatical week.

5. God established Nisan as the first month of the year when Israel became a nation (Ex. 12), Thus, Sabbatical weeks, which are simply groups of seven years, begin at Nisan. The Nisan-reckoning is evident in Scripture where the Lord instructs Israel to begin counting Sabbatical weeks when they enter the Promised Land (Lev. 25:1-4). The Israelites entered the Land in Nisan (Josh. 4:19).

6. Evidence that Jubilee years are reckoned from Nisan is the fact that the jubilee trumpet is sounded in the "seventh month," confirming Nisan to be the first month relative to the Jubilee (Lev. 25:9).

7. A crucial difference between the biblical (Nisan-reckoned) calendar and the Jewish (Tishrei-reckoned) version is that the former has the fiftieth year beginning in spring 2022, whereas the latter has the fiftieth year beginning in fall 2022. 

8. Because Pentecost is a fiftieth day observed after a count of seven weeks, it is sometimes called the "little jubilee" (Lev. 23:15, 16; 25:8-10).

9. According to E. W. Bullinger, "the number fifty is the issue of 7 X 7 (72) and points to deliverance and rest following on as the result of the perfect consummation of time." Wherever the number fifty is found in Scripture it is associated with fullness or completion (Num. 4:23; Deut. 22:29; 2 Sam. 15:1; 24:24; 1 Kings 1:5).

10. The fiftieth (Jubilee) year is also the "eighth" year relative to the Sabbatical week. Eight is the number of new beginnings in Scripture.

11. Interesting nine-o'clock concurrence linking Pentecost, the Church, the modern restoration of Jerusalem, and the Jubilee: 

• The firstfruits of the wheat harvest are offered up before the Lord in the nine o'clock hour on Pentecost.

• The Holy Spirit was poured out on the Church in the nine o'clock hour on Pentecost.

• The June 7, 1967, recapture of Jerusalem and the Western Wall by Israeli forces occurred in the nine o'clock hour. The soldiers were joined by fifty-year-old Rabbi Shlomo Goren who sounded the shofar and declared the Holy City to be "redeemed" (jubilee themes). A week later, Jerusalem was officially opened to the Israeli public for the first time in nearly 2,000 years--on Pentecost (see notes*).

• In Acts 2, Pentecost (fiftieth day) is said to be "fully come" in the nine o'clock hour, when about 60% of the biblical 24-hour day has elapsed. Similarly, the jubilee (fiftieth year) trumpet is sounded on the tenth day of the seventh month, when about 60% of the biblical year has elapsed.

*Howard M. Sachar, A History of Israel, New York: Knopf, 1996, p. 654; Michael Oren, Six Days of War, New York, Presidio, 2002, pp. 244, 245)

**Article: 'Magic of Shavuot (Pentecost) 1967': https://www.aish.com/jw/j/48965971.html

12. Jubilee-Rapture correlations:

• Paul uses jubilee terminology such as "liberty" and "redemption" when describing the resurrection-rapture of the Church (Rom. 8:19-23). 

• The Jubilee is when servants are liberated and land is returned to its original owner (Lev. 25). Correspondingly, the Rapture is when Christians are liberated and the 'title deed' to Planet Earth, symbolized by the sealed scroll in Revelation, goes back to God (Rev. 5).

• The Jubilee, (fiftieth year) is a type of Pentecost (fiftieth day). Since Pentecost is associated with the 'harvest" of the Church (Acts 2), the Jubilee may be associated with the harvest-rapture of the Church.

• The Jubilee is when spiritual blindness is lifted (Luke 4:18). Israel's blindness concerning Messiah-Jesus will be lifted after the full number of Gentiles comes in at the Rapture (Rom. 11:25).

• In Isaiah, the Jubilee is linked to the onset of the Day of the Lord (Isa. 63:1-6). The Day of the Lord commences around the time of the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 5:1-5). 

• Since the Jubilee year is also the first year of a new seven-year cycle, it is a fitting time for the Rapture and start of a new period or era, i.e. the Tribulation or Day of the Lord.

13. The counting of Daniel's weeks is initiated by the going forth of a command to rebuild Jerusalem (Dan. 9:25). 

The fountains, or sabils, of Jerusalem's wall were ordered rebuilt by Suleiman in 1536-37 AD. The walls and gates were ordered rebuilt in 1537-38 AD.* The Sabbatical week immediately following these orders begins at 1539 AD. Counting "seven" and "sixty-two" weeks (483 years) from 1539 AD, we arrive at 2022.

*Construction timeline for Jerusalem's wall in the days of Suleiman:

http://www.pages.drexel.edu/.../Ottoman_Sabils_of...

14. Solar and lunar eclipses are signs of the impending Day of the Lord: "The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD" (Joel 2:31).

15. 2015 solar eclipse: 

https://www.haaretz.com/.../a-simple-eclipse-of-the-sun...

https://www.charismanews.com/.../48718-passover-blood...

https://www.universetoday.com/.../a-complete-guide-to.../

16. According to the Talmud, the sun was initially created in its vernal equinox position on Nisan 1. For this reason, on the rare occasions Nisan 1 coincides with the equinox, a special blessing known as Birkhat Hachama, or "Blessing of the Sun," is recited: "Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the Universe maker of the works of Creation."

17. A lunar year consists of twelve orbits of the Moon around the Earth. Since each orbit takes approximately 

29.5 days, a lunar year consists of 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, and 34 seconds (354.36707 days).

18. Jesus is likened to a young stag three times in Song of Solomon (2:8-10, 17; 8:14).

19. Nisan 2022 also marks the start of the second Sabbatical week since two cows born with  number '7s' on their heads made news around the Feast of Trumpets in Sabbatical year 2014-15. In prophecy circles, the two cows with '7s' were considered a modern version of the sign given to pharaoh, a dream-warning about seven fat cows and seven skinny cows, denoting seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine (Gen. 41).

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/.../calf-with-7-on-its.../

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6axxud4jOc

20. Stretching the fig-tree generation to the maximum, the 81st anniversary of the March 1949 'growth spurt,' the endpoint is March 2030. However, because the Tribulation is likely to end in the fall, corresponding to the biblical festivals, the presumed end date is fall 2029. Subtracting seven years from fall 2029, we arrive at fall 2022 for a potential start time of the final week.

Originally published at Season of Return Ministries - reposted with permission.