Happy Sabbath to all and we hope your preparation day was a good transition time from a busy week to getting things ready to have a holy Sabbath rest.
The first photo is from the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee in the Jordan Valley taken by Evgeny. My second youngest grandson would tell me it is an angry sky. In time he will understand a red sky at night is a sailors delight.
However there is lots for Father to be angry with based on the depraved behavior going on in the Land these days. Very sad to see on a daily basis.
Some of you have probably noticed the oats growing big and lush at the bottom of the picture. In about a months time these early oats will give way to the dominance time of the wild barley growing amongst it. Then a month after that there will be some very full heads of grain on them. The soil here is very good and the conditions have been favorable at the south end of the Sea/Lake this cycle.
Pierre sent us out a nice shot of the dying crescent from Friday morning. I did see it Thursday morning here in TN but Friday was too cloudy during the time it would have been visible. The next photo is of part of Bruce's algorithms that we use to understand the mathematical visibility of the first crescent as seen from Jerusalem. It is very accurate, as is the case with correct mathematical equations.
The reason I am posting it as a partial screen shot today is simple. There are some who can't get out of their own way these days. They are showing their ignorance of even the simplest of things pertaining to the Biblical Calendar. I suggest to them they simply shut up, be patient, and be happy for they are making fools of themselves with their statements and demands.
For those of us who follow the first visible crescent from the Jerusalem area let us be clear. There is no point in going out on Sunday night to look for the first crescent, for even if conditions were 100% perfect, it is impossible to see it with your naked eye even if you have the best eyesight known to mankind.
Look at the visibility numbers for that night below for the month of January: 87.17. Now go back and look at the numbers accompanying it as to the illumination of the sun and the lag time relevant to the light of the crescent after its recent conjunction. As the simple saying goes, "not a chance in hell" of seeing it in or around Jerusalem Sunday night. Most likely not anywhere in the entirety of the Land as well.
But that changes dramatically on Monday at sunset. Look at the numbers for it: 279+. That is about as big as it gets for sighting purposes for a first crescent. That makes Tuesday the first day of the month by the methods many of us use. If you do not that is okay with us, we are still brethren for it was Father that made us brothers and sisters. Thus He makes those decisions with our Savior as to good standing or not. I suggest you don't step on those toes.
So, give it a break for those who are confused. However, there are those who profess not to be confused and are just getting in the faces of those who have a different understanding of the subject than they. They jump onto sites and shoot their mouths off in the hope of proving someone else wrong. Fools love an audience. These folks have no interest in the actual sightings from Jerusalem or for that matter the entirety of the Promised Land, for they go by the sighting in the location they actually live in thus making you the enemy to be proven wrong by their particular doctrine. That does not pertain to the majority of you who actually use local observation just to the wannabe's.
They want to point a stick in our eye with others watching. I suggest you don't give them the opportunity.
For those who like to play the fool, you are actually being very successful at it. Why not just be content in your own sphere of understanding? Be happy! We are about to enter the 11th Biblical Month. What a blessing of understanding amongst the billions who have no clue to it.
Thank you Father!